Black Heart
by LettersOfMe
Summary: Black Star had never met a person he couldn't  eventually  beat, it has always been like this, but what if he did? and what if this person intrigued him just as much as they frustrated him? Suckish summary,  rated T for language, Justin would not be happy
1. Holy Son of a Facepalm

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater, I wish I did, but I don't. unfortunately. cause, you know if I did some serious MakaXSoul would be goin' on *eh winkity wink* well anyways, enjoy the story please!**

I walked as slowly as I could, taking in the DWMA each step at a time. It was freaking huge. I felt the knot in my stomach tighten and loosen over and over until I almost threw up. I knew I was late already, so there was no point in hurrying, was there? If it were my choice, I wouldn't even show up. I reached the door, decision time. Fight or flee? I put my hand on the door handle. I can't do it; I can't even enter the room. Half accidently and half subconsciously, I fell forwards, my hand pushed down the handle and I stumbled through the door. Crap. The whole class stared at me, this is exactly what I was trying to avoid, I smiled dubiously at the class, they looked at me, some judgmental, some endeared and some laughing. Knot and loosen. A man in a wheelie chair spun towards me.

"Natsume Ai?"

Did this guy have a freaking screw in his head? I barely wanted to answer; I stared at him for a moment,

"You have a screw in your head"

Shit. Good job Natsume, now they think you're a retard. He chuckled,

"Are you Natsume Ai?"

Retard, retard, retard, retard. He said that at warped speed, he thinks I'm stupid, Frick.

"Yes, I am Natsume Ai."

I said it at the same speed as he did, god, I must sound like the most obnoxious person in the world. I continued to stare him straight in the eye, no matter what I did, I always ended up sounding intolerable, it was a bad habit, some called self confidence, however. The man smiled, god damn he was creepy, and looked at me,

"Very well, thank-you for joining us, my name is Stein and I am your Sensei."

He handed me a time table and pointed to the rows of seats in front of me. Pick a seat, any seat; it was like a damn carnival game. Unfortunately for me, the only seat left that wasn't in the front row was next to a rude looking blue haired guy and a tall, busty, coal haired girl, goodbye self esteem. I walked over; though to other people it probably looked like a strut, and sat down, avoiding any eye contact in the process.

"Now today we will be doing power and agility assessments, we must all quietly head down to the courtyard, as I am keeping a brown sun bear in one of the storerooms for dissection."

I knew there was a reason the guy freaked me out, but really, dissections? I tried hard to shrug it off, but it still made me shiver. The class walked out of the room, I sighed heavily, this sucked,

"Hey! New girl! The great and godly Black Star demands your attention!"

Oh, Lordy, the little prick spoke about himself in third person, I kept on walking.

"I know you can hear me so turn around and praise this schools future god!"

I was one cocky remark away from throwing a knife at his face, I kept on walking, I really couldn't deal with a bastard right then. The power and agility tests seemed simple enough, we were playing against a doll that Stein Sensei had created, it was programmed to dodge all of our attacks, what creeped me out though was that the dummy looked as if it was made out of human flesh, and knowing Sensei, It probably was.

"Ox and Harvar, you're up."

Man, these guys were weird, one of them had two antennae that stuck out from either side of his head and glasses that seemed glued to his eye sockets and the other was wearing a visor so that you couldn't see his eyes and his hair was up in a pony tail. Golden white light shone from the visor-boy as he transformed into his weapon form, it looked pretty normal to me, just a staff with a lightning shaped thing at the end, he then flipped and landed faithfully in his meisters hand. It was kind of cool to watch other meisters doing their thing; it was like I was learning without the whole study part of things.

"Good job, Ox"

I heard a girl yell, I looked at her she had short purple hair and was wearing some kind of uniform. Ox looked absolutely thrilled that she was shouting support, so I guessed that the weapon was Harvar, it was funny to watch the way he worked harder as she yelled out to him. So, Ox liked Purple over there, at least I knew something now. I continued to watch, Ox was extremely graceful for a guy that didn't look at all elegant. With a swish of the staff and a clap of thunder and lightning, the doll was frizzled and fried. Why the hell didn't he just do that immediately? I thought back upon the scene and remembered how the doll continuously dodged the end of the staff, could've that been why? The lightning was too bright to know for sure where it came from, but I was pretty certain I was right. Purple (whose name turned out to be Kim) and a chick named Jacqueline were called, they wore the exact same clothes and were rather similar too, were they family or something like that? The obnoxious kid with the blue hair was hollering,

"Ox, that was so slow I would be able to do it in less than half that time! You idiot, you lost against a fake-ass doll, stupid!"

I was beginning to wonder how many insults this kid could put in one sentence; I really couldn't wait until it was his turn, just to see how long it would take a little brat like that to over come a 'fake-ass doll' . I watched intently as Purple and her weapon battled against the doll. Her weapon was a damn **lantern **no offense, but I wouldn't be intimidated if some girl came to my place slinging round a lantern, just me? Just then I realised why I should be afraid of the lantern, it set the doll alight. Hold on just a bloody second, is that a different doll? How many human skins did Sensei have? Holy crap that man is scary,

"Natsume, please come here,"

It was Sensei, shit; did the guy read minds or something? I walked over,

"I have noticed that you have no weapon with you today, would you like to take the test tomorrow?"

I reached up my skirt, Stein Sensei looked scandalised, and pulled out my kunai knife and looked him directly in the eye,

"This is my weapon."

"Ah, I see, how strange, it has a soul?"

"Yes, two years ago, my clan was attacked by a witch named Mizune, my sister was my weapon and she transformed, but Mizune cast a spell that disabled her from turning back to her human form."

"And that is why you are here?"

I nodded,

"I will collect Shinigami Sama's 99 keishen souls and one witch soul, but instead of making a death scythe, I will ask him to transport her back to her human form."

Sensei said no more, but just nodded at me.

Person after person went up, weapon with meister, there were two people who were completely astounding, I'm pretty sure their names were Kid and Maka, man, did they have some raw talent, until finally it was the blue haired kids turn,

"Black Star, Tsubaki, it's your turn,"

I laughed cynically as I awaited the show I knew the little prick was going put on, and heard him yell something along the lines of 'watch your king, commoners, feel blessed that you get to bear witness to I, the great Black Star!" I was surprised that the baka new words that had more that two syllables, you wouldn't know it by looking at him, his weapon, whose name was Tsubaki apparently, transformed, I knew what she was immediately, she was a ninja scythe, I knew this because my own weapon was a ninja scythe, I felt suspicion rise inside of me, there was no way that god damned attention seeker could be a good assassin, no way in fiery hell. At first I thought he might actually be successful, he climbed artfully on to one of the high hanging pillars and waited for the thing to turn round, though he was well hidden within the shadow of the column, but just as I thought he would leap quietly from the shadows like ninjas are supposed to, he jumped from the pillar yelling something like 'I, a future god, am going to defeat you, doll! Feel honoured!'

I stood and stared for a moment. Then followed to slap my palm against my face.

**A/N: So... what do ya think? good? bad? please stop I don't think I'll ever be able to write properly again?  
I'm open to all kinds of criticism, start a flame, if you will. I look forward to hearing from you, yeah you, the one waiting for this A/N to finish... okay I'll**** shut up now. **


	2. Pure, Pure White

**A/N: my first and last Black Star POV, I just can't capture him properly :P Enjoy~!**

That new girl was really pissing me off! How dare she laugh at my attack strategy, the little ungodly person she was could never afford to judge someone as big as me! I leapt towards the doll, it dodged me, I yelled as I sprinted towards it one again, it dodged me 'Black Star!'I heard Tsubaki say,

"What is it?"

I growled in response, Tsubaki ignored my annoyance and continued,

'It's identifying you by the amount of noise you're making, if you want to defeat it you'll need to be quiet!'

I snorted, I knew she was right but I wasn't going to let her know that. This time I thought hard about being silent,

"Speed Star!"

I whispered as I ran towards the doll, it only took me a second, and the doll was sliced up into eight different parts, Kidd counted the pieces and then stuck his thumbs up at me, freak.

"Yahooo! What did I tell you, Ox?"

"Technically, you took double my time,"

Ox said as he pushed up his glasses, obnoxious little prick. I heard laughing coming from behind me, I looked around and saw the new girl, laughing so hard tears spilt from her eyes, she looked up at me, as she was doubled over in laughter and held out her hand for me to shake,

"What's your name, kid?"

"Were you not listening when Professor Stein said it?"

"Not really, not at all, actually."

"The names Black Star, and you better remember it 'cause I'm going to be a God!"

"How can you be a God when you're not even a good assassin yet?"

Oh no she didn't.

"What are you talking about? I am the most excellent assassin in the world! And what would you know about being an assassin any way?"

"I know how to be an assassin because I am an assassin, obviously."

She didn't look like an assassin to me, her hair was blonde it was short and scruffy with two strands that stuck up on each side like devils horns, her eyes were an surprising shade of green (though they were nothing compared to mine!) and her body was pretty average she was about my height, not flat like Maka but not quiet Tsubaki either, she wore a simple red dress shirt with a white and gray vest a short gray pleated skirt and thigh high white socks. She looked at me, unimpressed,

"Have you finished your examination yet, Baka Star?"

I could feel the creeping suspicion that this girl wasn't fond of me, you know it's like an instinct, that and she was looking at me all pissed-off. I laughed at her, it seemed to be the best way to avoid conflict, she smiled, I thought I heard Stein yell something but I was too busy thinking about my opinion on Natsume to listen, apparently she heard, because her head shot up and smiled wider,

"It's my turn, Baka Star; let me show you how it's done"

She was such an arrogant little Biatch. I stared as she sprung backwards from the doll; she pulled a kunai out of nowhere, so she did not have a weapon? Was she even really a meister then? A weak puff of smoke came from the weapon and it turned into a katana, the blade looked as if it was made from some kind of jewel and the handle out of silver, she swooped forwards and in less than a millisecond the doll was cut in half, she bowed her head and stood there.

"Maka, I would like you to see if you could try to review Natsume and her Weapons souls please."

"Her weapon, Professor Stein?"

"You will see... please do what I have asked, Maka"

I listened closely to the conversation happening next to me, Maka gasped,

"Stein, h-her weapon, it seems to have a human's soul..."

"Yes, now tell me about their souls"

"Couldn't you do this yourself, Professor?"

I asked, he nodded,

"I could, but I wish to assess Maka's ability to read peoples souls"

Maka stared and contemplated for a moment,

"She is very kind and loyal, while she doesn't like to obey and goes against everything upper class men and teachers tell her, she will, however, listen to people her own age, but still works better alone. She also possesses an unearthly amount of, what is it? Ignorance? No... It's innocence"

Stein petted Maka on the head,

"Very good, your personality reading abilities have improved marginally, good job, now tell me about her weapon,'

"Her weapon seems to be a perfect opposite of her, she is bitter and slightly prickly, her redeeming quality seems to be that she is very trusting of others and would create a great partner to work with due to her obedience and charm, unlike her sister who is very straight forward and quiet socially awkward, she would work better in teams once she came out of her prickly shell. The bond between them is amazing, even stronger than most four star fighters, not to mention Natsume's soul is enormous."

This time Stein applauded, towards both Natsume and Maka, he looked at Maka for a moment and then focused on Natsume,

"Good job, Natsume, your time was fastest in the class, that was the work of a _**true**_ assassin,"

"Hey! What are you trying to imply by saying that!"

I said angrily, he put far too much emphasis on the word true; he was obviously trying to say that I was a bad assassin.

"I am going to be the best meister this school has ever seen!"

I felt a hand resting on my head; I looked up and saw it belonged to Natsume,

"You keep on telling yourself that, kid."

She said with a smile,

"You can't call me kid we're the same age, dumbtard!"

"You can, however, call _me _Kidd,"

A smooth voice cut in, I looked to see Kidd standing with his hand stretched out to Natsume,

"My name is Death the Kidd, nice to meet you."

Natsume smiled at Kidd,

"So, your name is seriously Kidd, huh?"

"Yes,"

Kidd replied, looking just slightly (very, very slightly) agitated,

"That is awesome!"

She said with an even wider smile, I swear I even saw Kidd grin a little at the look on her face,

"But that means I'm going to need to remember Baka Stars name, 'cause calling two people Kidd is just confusing"

"You're not allowed to call me Baka Star either!"

"Too late, it's how I've memorised it, Baka Star; you're just going to have to live with it."

I wanted to throw a punch at her so badly, it wasn't even funny. I focused on Tsubaki instead; she was standing next to Maka and fretting over Soul, as he had just been Maka Chopped, ouch. Maka ignored the scythes pain and walked towards Natsume,

"Hi, my name's Maka Albarn, nice to meet you, Natsume,"

"Oh, hello, you're the one with the scythe, you are very talented "

Natsume smiled charmingly, how dare she try to fool my friends!

"Don't listen to her Maka, she's evil!"

Natsume looked at me all hurt, tears clouded her eyes, and I could tell she was faking, Maka apparently could not,

"Maka Chop!"

Oww that hurt a lot. I saw Natsume snickering as Maka's back was turned, what a little she-devil. Oh well, people as big as me don't need to worry about people like her. She smiled at Tsubaki, Natsume being pretty small for a girl her age; Tsubaki went all 'Kyaa' over her apparent 'cuteness'. Pshh, what bull crap, she was about as cute as Asura, ok that was a bit of an exaggeration, but what I'm trying to say is she was not cute, at all. Okay, maybe a little, but not enough to 'Kyaa' over.

"Tsuba-Chan~"

I heard Natsume say to Tsubaki,

"Thank you for being so nice to me,"

I rolled my eyes; she was already giving people nicknames,

"Hey, Natsume, why are you sucking up to Tsubaki?"

"Tsuba-Chan was kind enough to offer to show me around school later on, I'm just thanking her."

Everyone looked at her, all of a sudden, Maka piped up,

"Hey, Natsu, why do you use Japanese honorifics like 'Chan' and 'Sensei'?"

"Because, before I came here, I lived in Japan, I guess it's hard to shake off the habit,"

I glared at her in suspicion,

"If you lived in Japan why don't you look Japanese?"

"Just because I lived in Japan doesn't mean I am of Japanese heritage, Baka Star, if you must know, I lived in Australia until I was ten."

Stein made a muffled noise,

"You might have met Marie, then,"

He whispered thoughtfully to himself.

"If by Marie you mean, Marie the Pulveriser, then yeah, she was a good friend of my parents, she helped us move to Japan."

She chuckled huskily as she used Marie's nickname, I guess it was kind of funny, seeing as if you had just met Marie, you wouldn't think she would be capable of pulverising anything apart from men's patience.

So the new girl was really annoying, in fact I kind of hoped she wouldn't turn up to school the next day, but before I left I heard Maka say something to Stein,

"Professor Stein, is it even possible for someone to have a soul of such pure, pure white?"

**Hmmm, *scratches chin* I hope you liked it, there are many more surprising moments to come :), I hope you come back for the next chapter ;)**


	3. Well, That Sucks

**A/N: I'm back! hehe, I'm sorry for the delay, but I went on a holiday, and it was gooood, luckily though, I found time to write up some chapters specially for you~ 3**

I guess my first day had been good, everyone was extremely nice, but as I walked home, hearing the cobble stone paths make hollow dreary noises against my feet, something was extremely wrong, and I could feel it from the ends of my hair to the tips of my toes. I scurried along to my new apartment, '_this is a regular day, and nothing bad is going to happen...' _I chorused to myself over and over, feeling the cover for my sister's kunai form rub against my leg.

"Cobra, Cobra, Snake, Snake, fufufufu"

I heard the dark chuckling behind me and without thinking ran into a sprint towards the lower east side of Death City; my apartment was in the upper west. I could feel my running was pointless, but fighting a witch again just wasn't worth it. Medusa Gorgon was close behind; I could hear her snake slithering through the gaps between the closely packed houses that surrounded us. I soon realised that even if I did run, what was I supposed to do? Run forever? Where was I running to? Nowhere. My plan of running was taking me nowhere. I halted and turned around, facing the giant snake that she sat quietly on top of,

"You know, dear Natsume, this would be so much easier if you just joined us, Asura wants you"

"Tell Asura he can take his offer and shove it right up his keishen ass!"

"Now, now, there is no need for cussing, little meister"

"Screw you, Medusa,"

"You and I, we are very much alike, we both share the same contempt and disregard for rules, but you and I both know that when Asura wants something, he will get it,"

"No. Please stop harassing me.

"Mizune, she could return your sister to the way she was..."

"Hey, Gorgon, since when are you Asura's lap dog? It's like he picked you up from the pound or something,"

I felt Medusa's aura turn into one of blood lust,

"I work under no one,"

She hissed,

"Haven't you done enough for him, reviving him and what not?"

"No! That was my experiment, my big experiment, the world, it can evolve now, we can move forwards."

She sounded confused, I knew I shouldn't have, but I just wanted to stir her a bit more,

"Looks like the master has become the slave, what is it like being indebted to someone who should be indebted to you?"

This is when Medusa snapped, something inside her flicked and it seemed she was no longer in the mood for negotiation, her vector arrows sliced towards me and I dodged them just in time, I pulled out the seemingly innocent kunai, a weak puff of smoke burst from it and then my odd katana appeared, jade blade and all. I lunged into the shadows of the night, it was the best time for an assassin, and leapt from building top to building top until I saw Medusa down below I sprung down upon her and had my katana to her neck,

"Medusa Gorgon, I don't mind if I kill you know or later, but make no mistake you will end up dead if you ever try to contact me again, okay?"

Medusa knew she couldn't move as the tip of my blade was at her neck, she chuckled,

"You're really are my kind of girl, Natsume, I may end up dead but my attempts at getting you to join us won't stop any time soon,"

I laughed at the woman's notion

"We'll see, Snake Woman"

I let her go, but that would be the last time I did, if she was foolish enough to make it a next time, I would deliver my promise with a golden seal. I glared at her retreating figure. God damn it, it was going to take ages to get home now. I walked sluggishly, I was so tired my legs felt like led, they were barely liftable. Looking around myself, I realised I had no idea were I was, wishing I'd had the town map I decided to find the nearest store and ask the shop owners for directions. I walked for what felt like hours (but was probably only fifteen to thirty minutes tops), and realised I had done a big loop as I was standing right out front of the DWMA, I was tired and worn, I knew that if I continued I would fall asleep while walking,

"Oooh, sooooooo tired, I must sleep soon,"

I whined out into the night,

"Natsume?"

I spun around, I really couldn't feel much relief, seeing as it was Professor Stein, but felt some anyway because it wasn't Medusa or pals, I smiled at him,

"I got lost,"

"I see,"

"You know, you have a very penetrating stare,"

Stein chuckled; I was obviously being far too forward,

"Maka did a very good job at examining your soul, but there is something she seems to have missed,"

I tried not to act surprised as he told me this and played with the screw that was stuck through his head,

"What?"

"You have the same element of madness as me,"

I stared at him for a moment and then turned around and ran, I seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight. No conflict for me, thank you. I ran and I ran until I could run no more and then I passed out, I felt like an insomniac that had just been given sleeping pills, and subconsciously knew I wouldn't be awake for a while.

"_I won't run! Not again, Natsume,"_

"_Sister listen to me, this is a witch, something far more serious than just another mob boss or drug dealer, ok? We need to think about this, we can't always just run into action,"_

"_I bet you would just much rather run away, but it's not like that this time Nat, our clan- no our __**family **__will die unless we do something..."_

"_Okay, but if anything happens to you, I will never be able to live with that in my conscience."_

_The odd mouse-witch looked down on us, me and Sister, her eyes sharp and fierce, a bright orange light shone from Sister as she transformed, I swung forwards, I could feel the impact of my blade against soft skin the woman was bleeding,_

"_Chi, chi, chi. Mouse, Mice, Mouse, Mice, Mouse, Mice Mice!"_

_I swallowed as her fingers pointed towards Sister, pink lightning looking stuff shot towards her and the Mizune flew away,_

"_Sister? Sister? What has that witch done to you?"_

Sometimes it would happen like this, I would dream of the day Sister had been cursed and it would always result in the same thing. I was in a black abyss of nothingness, but her warmth would call out to me, and in the darkness I could see it, her weak, sickly soul, and I would hold it close to my chest and I would be taken to the soul world, _her _soul world. It was so lonely, so dark, yearning for accompaniment, and I would find her and she would only ever say the same thing,

"How is your conscience? How is your conscience?"

Her cracked, tired voice echoing through her hollow world, her words etching themselves into the walls that boxed her off, this was Sisters soul world as she was always blocked from returning to herself, and I would always hold her close to me as she repeated the words over and over, her warm tears would spill onto me and my shoulders would hold both our worries and fears, but at least for this moment, we were together and we were peaceful knowing that we at least had each other, sometimes one of the walls would come crashing down, and if only for a second we could see her real soul world, filled with colour and life, but the world would fabricate again and I could feel myself being torn from her side and back into the real world.

I blinked tiredly, and almost screamed; Lord Death's face was very close to mine as he examined me,

"Welcome back, Miss. Ai! You have been out for quiet a while!"

"M-My apologies, Death sama..."

Lord Death laughed jovially as I whimpered up at him. He hopped backwards and Stein got all up in my face,

"You've been sleeping for 48 hours; it seems you have been having resonance with your weapon, how did it go, her soul seems very weak."

"What happened between Sister and I is none of you business!"

He looked at me from the corner of his eye,

"I see, you're _that _type of person"

"What are you on?"

"Actually, I am on Prozac at the moment, I have been unable to sleep as of late,"

Was he serious? He took questions way too literally. I glared at him from the edge of the school's boarding bed and stood up,

"I'm going to be late for class, please may I leave?"

"You're forgetting something..."

"What?"

"It's five o'clock in the afternoon,"

"Oh."

"Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Well, I did, but I was supposed to sort things out with the tenant last night, so probably not anymore."

I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly,

"Can't I just stay in one of the dorms?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"There are no student rooms left."

"Whose room is this then?"

"Mine!"

I saw a large blue man stick his hand up, I smiled at him,

"Thank you"

"It's nothing, this was the kind of man I was,"

"Where am I going to stay, though?"

"I know! You can stay with me!"

I saw Tsubaki for the first time through out this whole conversation and smiled wider,

"I would love that!"

"Okay, but there is something you should know..."

"What?"

"I live with Black Star,"

Well shit.

**OOOOHHHHH, madnesss, she has it! What a plot twist, next chapter look forward to Natsume teasing Tsuba-Chan and Baka Star ;)**


	4. Under Pressure

**A/N: Hi guys! I feel as if I want to start a one chapter a week routine, sound good? Well anyway, please leave comments and enjoy!**

I felt Black Star staring a hole in my back,

"Why does she have to stay with _us_?"

I sighed, this had been the only question Black Star had asked our entire walk to their house, and I was really getting sick of it, so I decided to stir them up a bit,

"So... how long have you love birds been living together?"

Tsubaki turned a deep shade of red and Black Star started muttering things under his breath, this was just too easy,

"I mean, I know you have the likey likes for each other and everything, but moving in together,"

I whistled long and low,

"That's a real sign of commitment."

Black Star waved his hands out in front of him,

"No way! That's disgusting, as if I'd ever date Tsubaki!"

"A-Am I really that revolting?"

Tsubaki asked, tears welling up in her eyes, I went over to her and hugged her,

"Tsubaki! You're not disgusting or revolting! You are as pretty as the camellia blossom with the scent of a rose!"

Black Star stared at me with deep hatred as I poked my tongue out at him, trying hard not to laugh,

"He didn't mean it Tsubaki, even someone as thick as me can tell that,"

He looked at me almost grateful this time and petted Tsubaki on the back, he looked into her eyes apologetically, but not really because the 'great' and I quote, 'Black Star gives no apologies because I am just too big to take back anything I say!' he had said it earlier that day, but I bet he wished he didn't then,

"What I was trying to say is that you are like a big sister kind of thing to me, not like what Soul is to Maka."

"What about Soul and Maka?"

"Their not big enough to admit it, but they go googly eyes over each other,"

Black Star said, I looked to wards Tsubaki for confirmation,

"It's true Maka and Soul are very compatible for one another, they just can't realise that they are more than friends and none of us have the guts to say anything."

I laughed; even the thick and stupid Black Star figured that one out, something must be wrong with my brain cells. I walked in silence and listened to the rabble around me and the cluttering of feet against pathways. I smiled, it wasn't like this all the time. I really didn't get time to just listen; it felt kind of good maybe I'd be quieter from then on. I listened and was silent for a long time; Black Star looked at me suspiciously,

"What are you up to?"

He asked, his eyes narrowing,

"Nothing,"

I said shaking my head slowly,

"Yeah right,"

He muttered, I rolled my eyes; we had such a trusting relationship. I looked away from him and kept on walking forward, he soon learnt that I wasn't plotting any secret plans and walked, to my surprise, quietly. We finally reached their apartment, my god it was small. It was just big enough to fit two people almost contentedly, but not three. I felt uncomfortable, like an outsider, no worse, like an intruder, I almost turned a round and went to find a hotel, but stopped because Tsubaki put her hand on my shoulder and led me towards the front door, there was no turning back now.

"It is small but I hope you can find yourself comfortable here,"

She smiled warmly at me as I rubbed the back of my head,

"Thanks..."

She looked around worriedly,

"Umm, I'm not sure where you're meant to sleep, see, Black Star and I sleep in the same room-"

I laughed loudly and then wolf whistled at them, Tsubaki blushed again and then Black Star explained,

"There wasn't enough room in the house for two bedrooms, so we had to share, we don't share a bed or anything like that, we just have a small house."

He shrugged, either this man was really thick or he had a will power of steel, cause any sane guy living in the same apartment as Tsubaki would make some moves on her faster then a speeding bullet. I chuckled lowly for a few minutes and then said,

"It's okay, I've slept on a floor before I can do it again, do you have any blankets?"

Tsubaki nodded, I smiled at her,

"Then I'll be fine."

Tsubaki went over to a cupboard and pulled out some blankets and a pillow, I thanked her and set them neatly our on the floor. I decided that the next day I would find somewhere to live in Death City, I didn't want to over stay my welcome, and I'm pretty sure with Black Star my welcome ended as soon as Tsubaki invited me in the door. I breathed slowly for a while and then sleep washed over me.

I felt someone poking at my arm,

"Hey, Natsume, do you know how to cook?"

It was Black Star,

"Shut up Baka Star."

"Aw, come on. Give a buddy a hand here,"

I sighed and looked at the clock. It was 2am in the morning,

"Yes, Black Star, I can cook. But do you now what I do better than cooking?"

He shook his head. I smiled as I responded,

"Sleeping."

"Please, I have the munchies,"

He looked at me with an agonised face,

"Fine, but if we wake up Tsubaki, I get to behead you."

He nodded enthusiastically as I made my way towards their kitchen,

"What do you want to eat?"

"What can you cook?"

"I'll make you some pasta,"

"Okay."

I clattered around in the kitchen, to my surprise Tsubaki and Black Star had all the ingredients I needed to make a simple bolognaise. Black Star stared intently as I fiddled around with pots and pans, boiling water and cooking sauce. I served up the food I had just finished making,

"Careful, Baka Star, it's still really hot."

Though, I don't think Black Star heard me as he was too busy stuffing his face. I almost laughed, but had too much spaghetti in my mouth to do so. We sat and ate in silence for a while and then when he finished but I had not, Black Star sat and seemed to wait for me. I finally finished and began to clean my plate when Black Star choked out some words that I couldn't hear,

"What?"

He looked up at me,

"Why are you here?"

"It's a long story..."

"A big man like me has all the time in the world!"

"Maybe later, Black Star, but not know"

He nodded almost sincerely and then wandered off back to his room. I made an annoyed noise at the back of my throat, I was left alone to do the dishes alone. Damn it Black Star, why? As I cleaned, some of the soapy water sprayed into my eye, crap, it hurt. I felt that my eye was turning red and squinted into the water, it hurt but I continued to clean the pan and the two bowls that Black Star and I used, it felt odd when I went back to bed, as if the spaghetti bolognaise was just a dream, along with Black Stars curiosity about my past, it was probably because I had been half asleep through out the entire meeting.

I breathed my last sigh of contempt before I scrambled off the floor, it was 6:30 am and I knew if I was going to make to school on time I was going to have to get motivated. I walked into their shower room, it was actually really charming, I showered quickly out of fear that someone would walk in on me and changed into my usual clothing and ran out the door before anyone else could awake. I sped down to the corner shop and bought a premade bento and coffee for only a few bucks, which was good because I needed all the money I could get my hands on if I was going to find an apartment. I ran breezily towards the school and made it with time to spare. I took a quick drink from the foam coffee cup in my hand and threw it into a nearby bin,

"Hey, Natsume!"

I turned around to see Black Star flailing his arms about trying to catch my attention,

"Yeah?"

"Where'd you run off to this morning?"

"School, obviously."

"You left pretty early, then,"

"Why'd you care anyway?"

"Tsubaki almost had a heart attack"

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry Tsubaki,"

Tsubaki smiled at me, she looked tired but nodded in acceptance of my apology, I waited for the pair to catch up with me and we walked into school together, I looked over at my two companions, Black Star had his hands shoved deep into his pockets and Tsubaki walked with her hands clasped behind her back, what an odd pair they were, standing together but completely apart at the same time. Two people so different but so good for one another, it was almost comical. I walked into school wondering about everyone I had met on the first day of school, their names, their faces and what they were like when I first entered the room, the first few people I remembered were all of Black Star and Tsubaki's friends, then Ox Ford and Harvar, then Kim and Jacqueline, their were three more people whose faces I remembered but not names. I guess that day as I walked in two words matched what I felt perfectly.

Under Pressure.

**A/N: Did you like? It's good to know Black Star gets the 'midnight munchies' too, huh? Thanks for reading and pretty please, I love your comments!**


	5. Enough

**Heya, Hi, Hello, How are you? (do you like my Lord Death esque greeting?) Wanna know something? Lean in a little closer... I DON'T OWN SOUL EATER. shocking, I know. Anywho, ENJOY!**

I scrambled up to the highest seat in the room, where no one could see me, set out my papers and my pencil case, looked down at the table and expected to be left alone, but apparently not. Black Star slapped down his books next to me, I almost sighed because I knew that where ever Black Star went, he brought attention with him.

"Hey,"

He said gruffly as he plopped down in the seat next to me. I looked around and saw Tsubaki seated right next to him, she smiled sweetly at me, and then next to Tsubaki was Soul and Maka and then Kidd, Liz and Patty. Maybe I wasn't so alone, after all. I stared towards the door, Professor Stein came through the doorway on his office chair and fell flat on his face. No one laughed except for me, I even received a few glares, but kept on laughing anyway, as a matter of fact I laughed so hard I was shaking,

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's because I haven't been able to laugh in so long that whenever I see something even slightly funny I go somewhat over board."

They all looked at me eyebrows raised but I was too busy looking down at the table and giggling to notice, when I lifted my head after I had finished giggling, I blushed furiously as I realised that the seven of them were still looking at me, I looked down again. Professor Stein addressed the class,

"As there have been no missions in a while, Lord Death has proposed you have the day off so you can collect a few souls, have fun."

I glanced over at the group of people next to me,

"How do we get assigned missions?"

They all stared at me for a minute, like they had forgotten that I was new to this school, looking at each other they simultaneously said,

"Talk to Stein."

I sighed, I'd been trying to avoid this ever since he had confronted me about my madness, I had always known it was there, whenever I fought I would get the intense urge to kill my subjects and everything around them, I had just began to control it when Stein brought it up again. I was going to have to be brave,

"Professor Stein?"

"Hmm? Yes, Natsume?"

"I do not know how to get a mission,"

Stein nodded at me,

"Yes. I'm glad you have approached me for this. I want to gauge what damage you can do and as it turns out their is a very advantageous situation before us, Crona, the demon swordsman, seems to have been causing trouble lately, I want to see if you can take it down."

I nodded, I knew who to talk with to figure this one out. Maka. She was the only one who knew Crona, or so I had heard, I decided that I would approach her later.

"May I have an hour to prepare?"

Stein nodded, I walked briskly out of the room, I grabbed my bento from the cubby hole that I had outside of the classroom and found an empty music room to eat in. It was quiet in there, I saw a few instruments lined up against the walls, I sat down at the piano bench, I had always wanted to learn piano, but I had learnt violin and guitar instead, I put my fingers down on the keys, the low note hollowed out the room, it sounded melancholy, I pressed down on a higher key, it made a smaller sound, so sad and sweet, I looked around myself and spotted a violin, I picked it up and began to play, I had written the melody, and I truly didn't believe it was a song, it was a memory. Tears spilt down my cheeks as the memory came back to me, it was Sister and I, and we were playing amongst the rose bushes, our adoptive parents smiling down at us, it was probably the oldest memory I had of Sister, we were four years old and the hot Australian sun beat down on us, the melody changed, it was faster and more energetic, my first day with the clan, the training sessions that we laughed at jovially, changing again, sweeter and more flowing, like honey, Sister and I's graduating to be able to fight, that was before we knew what fighting entailed, then the final event in the memory song, The Mizune, the music sounded like hatred and loss, piercing straight through my heart, the ending note was low and barren, echoing through the empty room. I dried my face,

"What's the song called?"

I looked up quickly, the boy called Soul stood in the door way, I blinked in surprise and looked down at the floor,

"Nothing."

"Really? Did you write it then?"

"Kind of, I guess,"

"I liked the second part best, it reminded me of a friend of mine,"

I smiled,

"Really? Who?"

"Well, I just met her and she seems pretty cool, but Maka says that there is something unidentifiable about her, she might be right but, hey, who doesn't have a story round here?"

I laughed, he smiled at me,

"You know I am talking about you, right?"

I nodded, it was kind of obvious,

"Good, because if you didn't that would be so uncool,"

He looked aloof and then walked away. What a weird dude. It was kind of luck that he had spoken to me, though, because he had reminded me to look for Maka. I ran down two flights of stairs, praying that she hadn't gone anywhere yet. I looked in the first place I would think to find her, the library. I walked slower in the library, 'cause the librarian really gave me the creeps, and up the very back I saw Maka,

"Maka!"

I whispered, she looked up,

"Oh, hey, Natsume, do you need anything?"

"Uh, actually, yes I do need something. What can you tell me about Crona the Demon Swordsman?"

Her eyes widened slightly, she seemed to think for a moment,

"It's weird, because I know it better than most, but not at all at the same time,"

I nodded encouragingly, she sighed,

"Do you know how to enter someone else's soul?"

I nodded,

"Sometimes I visit Sister's soul world,"

Maka looked slightly surprised as I said this but continued anyway,

"I visited Crona's soul and it is dry there, it is a lonely person, the best thing to do is talk to it for a while to make it feel unsettled, and make sure it doesn't think too much about something called 'the little one', somehow it motivates it to kill, if it starts comparing you both, you're screwed."

I nodded in acknowledgement of her advice, but the realised something,

"Hey, I didn't even say I was fighting it!"

"It was kind of obvious,"

I smiled as she said what I was thinking about Soul only minutes ago, I prodded her to continue,

"I've told you all I can, but I need to ask you two favours,"

"Yes?"

She looked down at her feet,

"Can you ask it if it's started answering the questions?"

I nodded,

"What was the other favour?"

"Please don't kill it."

Her eyes were pleading me, I looked at her,

"Of course."

"Really?"

"You have my word. Crona won't die by my hand."

Crap, I just got myself into a world of trouble. What if I needed to kill it? What if it was about to kill me? I saw Black Star and Tsubaki, I ran towards them,

"Hey do you guys have any tips about fighting the Demon Swordsman?"

Tsubaki glanced at me worriedly,

"Yeah, only a few though..."

Black Star relayed what information he had,

"Don't use any cutting attacks. It can turn its black blood into weapons. Can you use soul wavelength to attack an opponent?"

Black blood? Crap, this was bad news. I looked over at them,

"Yeah I can do the soul wavelength shock, will that help me?"

"Yeah, you might be able to knock it out, you won't be able to kill it though."

"Didn't plan on killing it in the first place."

Black Star laughed, as always, just a little too loudly and said,

"When it gets serious, you might not have a choice."

I cringed, the promise I had made Maka seemed to be harder and harder to keep.

I ran through the school, there was only one more person I needed to see, well three really. I ran, even though I should not have been, to one room I knew Kidd would be in, the conference room. I walked down the guillotine hallway and saw Kidd conferencing with Lord Death, I almost laughed as I realised exactly what I'd do to annoy Kidd. I sprinted forwards and hugged him from behind, my hands covered his eyes,

"Guess who?"

He writhed around,

"Liz! Patty! What is this heavy obstruction on my back?"

I laughed loudly with Lord Death laughing with me,

"Oh, it's nice to see you to Kidd,"

He looked surprised for a second and then said,

"Natsume, how are you?"

"I, apparently, am heavy,"

I pouted,

"Ah, you see, when I said heavy I meant large,"

I gaped at him. The boy was digging himself a hole.

"N-no, you're not fat Natsume!"

He was on all fours down on the floor, I laughed at him,

"Don't worry, Kidd, I was just messing with you."

Kidd sighed with relief and regained his composure,

"Was there something you needed?"

I nodded,

"What do you know about fighting Crona?"

"You mean the Demon Sword?"

"Yep."

He looked tired,

"Don't get distracted, it can make a quick escape very easily,"

"Thanks!"

I said as I ran away through the door. I moved happily around the school until I reached the classroom, Stein looked like he hadn't moved at all since I had left, he looked up,

"Are you ready?"

I nodded,

"Just out of curiosity, what have you learnt about Crona?"

I smiled confidently at him,

"Enough."

**Argh! I hate calling Crona 'it' but I don't know what else to call her\him :( What do **you** think Crona is? I really want to see what the common consensus (?spell check?) is, leave your lovely opinion in the reviews, please. :)**


	6. Of Regreting Decisions

**A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to say thankyou to the following people for favouriting/author alerting/reviewing: BrokenAngel16KL, Appleblx, 8Death-the-kid8, shygirl2009, yayaloves, ubyrai, Wolfsbane706, webidolchui and a special thanks to SailorSofia and Winterwolfofflight for encouraging me to continue writing. If I spelt your screen name wrong, tell me and I'll fix it ASAP. Anywho, Enjoy!**

I didn't pay much attention as we travelled towards Crona's location, heck, I didn't even know how we got there. But as we arrived, I could tell that this was going to be one hell of a fight, I could feel a very powerful wavelength in the vicinity, Stein had his hand on my shoulder,

"Crona is in that building over there, have fun."

I walked forwards and placed my hand against the door, I pushed it slightly and it swung open I saw a dreary looking person; blue souls hovered around the room. The person said in an equally dreary voice,

"Ragnarok, scream resonance,"

Her blade had a mouth on it, it screamed so high pitched that I almost needed to cover my ears, the hundred odd souls were pulled into the mouth of the weapon, I took this as my opportunity, I jumped into the shadows. It was yet to notice me. After it had finished sucking in all the souls, I spoke,

"Hello, lonely demon,"

It spun around confusedly,

"You're addressing me, but I can't see you, and I just don't know how to deal with that!"

I laughed darkly,

"You don't know how to deal with a lot, huh?"

It glanced towards the sound of my voice,

"Do you want to fight me?"

"Yes, but a friend wanted me to ask you something first, Crona, have you started answering the questions?"

It looked surprised, as if it had remembered something,

"Maka?"

The look of recognition was gone, in fact it looked confused, as if it didn't know the name it just spoke,

"Yes, the only person in the world that cared about you and you turned your back on her,"

"You're being too up front. I don't know how to deal with that,"

"Shut up, lonely demon, it's time to fight!"

I felt its blade cut into my skin repeatedly, over and over, but I couldn't feel the pain. I could only feel my warm, sticky blood gliding down my body from the puncture wounds in my stomach. I felt a sudden urge to see _its _blood, its pearly black, magic blood.

I lunged towards the figure and with my sword struck its head, I hooked the flat of my katana around its back and shocked it with my wavelength, it fell backwards, I could feel the madness slowly emerging from the back of my mind, I stared at it, I had a feeling it could feel my madness to, jumping forwards, I punched it repetitively until it bled from its nose,

"Please stop!"

My eyes probably looked crazed; it pushed its blade into my arm and twisted to the side, ignoring the blood and pain I laughed insanely, it stabbed me again in the stomach, with as much force as it could muster, still no pain as I stared down into its frightened eyes, I just wanted to kill it, to kill everybody,

"Time to die, lonely demon,"

I was just about to lunge my katana through its neck, when I remembered my promise, I cackled, screw promises! I felt a hand on my shoulder once more; I spun around and saw Stein, and immediately snapped out of my blood lust, Stein stared at me with boredom,

"I thought you made someone a promise, did you?"

I glared at him, and then at Crona,

"Today's your lucky day, see you again soon!"

I smiled sweetly and slammed the door. I looked at Stein and jumped backwards, he looked scared, no, he looked terrified,

"P-Professor, are you okay?"

"Natsume, that unrequited blood lust that you just displayed was quiet scary,"

All of a sudden it seemed that the floor became very interesting as I was staring at it intently,

"I'm sorry. When I fight alone I just can't control it."

"Are you meaning to say when you fight with others it's easier?"

"Yeah, they kind of remind me that I'm not fighting for me, but for someone else."

He nodded,

"You need a Marie,"

"Pardon?"

"Lord Death paired me with Marie because she acted like a mediator for me. My madness was kept in check,"

"So, you think I need a mediator, huh?"

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea. But only as a last resort. I would first like to see if we can try to control it, the madness, that is."

I made a sound of agreement as I slipped into fatigue all through out the travel home travel home. It was still light when we arrived, I decided to go apartment hunting, I first found some random hotel to stay for the night, cause I sure as hell wasn't going to find somewhere that evening, I walked over town until I found one, it was big enough to fit two people, there was a big kitchen, two bedrooms one bathroom and toilet and a 'leisure room' as the sign called it. I contacted the real estate agency and, unexpectedly, I was the first person to contact them about it, they were quick to snatch up my high offer, my clan was supporting me financially, and they told me I'd be able to move there in a week,

"Yes!"

I hissed to myself, it had only taken me six hours. I really couldn't believe my luck. Things like this just didn't happen, it was against the rules of life. I looked around myself to make sure no one was there and then yelled out my favourite quote,

"Screw the rules, I have money!" (1)

I laughed loudly as I moved towards Black Star and Tsubaki's apartment, I just needed to pick up my stuff and be on my way, I walked happily. As I knocked on the door wondering wether they would be home, I realised that the motel I was staying at was on the other side of town. I shrugged, a little bit of exercise never hurt anyone. The door swung open and I smiled happily up at Black Star's obnoxious face,

"Hullo, Baka Star, I'm here for my stuff"

He looked surprised for a moment,

"You found an apartment already?"

I smiled happily,

"Yeah, well, no offence or anything, but real estate isn't exactly booming down here in Death City,"

It was true, only meisters, weapons and shop owners lived in Death City, so people moved there irregularly, if I remembered correctly, Tsubaki was the last person before me that'd moved there, crazy, huh?

"But what if I get hungry tonight?"

I stared blankly at him, was he being serious?

"Well, you'll just have to annoy Tsubaki, then,"

His eyes went all big and he looked mortified,

"Have you ever woken Tsubaki up in the middle of the night? It's truly terrifying."

I tried to imagine Tsubaki being scary, but I just couldn't. Black Star slowly drifted towards me, then whispered in my ear,

"Her blood type's AB..."

I was shocked, a giant sweat drop rolled down the side of my head and I said quietly,

"Total double personality..."

Black Star nodded, I sighed,

"You're just going to have to cook for yourself,"

He glanced at me with puppy dog eyes,

"Look, Black Star, it's not that hard, there should be some left over pasta in the fridge, just heat it up and you'll be fine,"

He smiled at me,

"The big me didn't need your help to figure that out!"

I sighed exhaustedly as I walked into their house to grab my small duffle bag of things; I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder,

"Tell Tsubaki I said thank you,"

Black Star was admiring his reflection in the mirror, but still nodded in acknowledgment of my request,

"Oh, yeah, don't try to heat up the pasta in the oven, it won't work,"

He looked shocked, that was obviously what he was planning to do,

"Tsch, as if I'd do that! I'm way too big a star to be that dumb!"

He glanced around himself shiftily, making it even more obvious that those were his intentions, he shut up for a moment, I watched him suspiciously,

"Well, goodbye,"

I said impassively, he spun around,

"I'm so big, I'm gonna offer to walk you to wherever your going!"

I raised my eyebrow as high as I could,

"Yeah, no thanks,"

He was laughing with pride so loudly that he didn't hear me. I walked out the door and Black Star followed on behind me, what followed was as unsurprising as anything, Black Star continued on to tell me of his 'many' conquests against enemies of the DWMA, I'm pretty sure he made up more than six of the twelve or so he told me, cause I had seen MacGyver episodes with very similar plot lines. I spaced out after a while, but I had to admit, it was good to have some company,

"Hey, can I ask you something Natsume?"

I nodded unthinkingly,

"What's up with your weapon, I mean, it has a human's soul but not a human's body?"

I rolled my eyes and very plainly explained my situation to him. After I had finished talking, I saw that Black Stars face was smothered with surprise,

"Woah, your story is almost as big as mine!"

I laughed at his childish take on such a serious story. We had just reached the doors of the place I was staying, when it began to rain,

"Argh, I hate rain! Tsubaki will yell at me if I catch a cold!"

Yelled Black Star,

"You can stay with me until it stops, then,"

I yelled back, the onslaught of rain that was pouring down was so loud that it was actually necessary. Black Star smiled smugly,

"I can stay with you?"

I suddenly reconsidered my decision.

**A/N: The trouble this situation may or may not cause is unfathomable. I hope you liked, and if you did, please review with anything, even constructive criticism, thankyou for reading and there will be another chapter this time next week! **


	7. Bring it On

**A/N: Kyaaa! I totally forgot to write my authors note *FAIL* any way, I especially like this chapter, I was going to call it "Black Star: Moment Killer (you'll understand later) but it seemed a little too long. Thankyou and ENJOY! (or I'll take your soul) not really though...**

We rushed into the lobby of the hotel, it didn't look very clean. I calmed myself, I only had to stay in there for one week and then I could move into my new apartment, what a blissful thought. Black Star looked around the place,

"Wow, what a dump!"

He obviously had no problem voicing his opinion. I almost ran over to him and covered his mouth with my hand, what an arrogant bastard! He looked around and pointed at the front desk as if to say, 'go on, hurry up' the boy was cruising for a bruising. I walked towards the counter, the man standing there was picking at something that was caught between his teeth,

"Ummm, I have a room under the name of Natsume Ai,"

He didn't bother to acknowledge me, but instead searched up my name in the computer he then tossed a pair of keys towards me without so much as a 'heads up'. I sighed and looked at the room number on the keychain, room 8, second floor. I tried to look on the bright side, the hotel was atop of a hill, I might get a view. I grabbed Black Star by the collar of his top, giving him no more opportunity to insult the staff or facilities of the place.

"Hey, there are no elevators,"

Black Star said, it didn't take me long to realise he was right. We walked towards the staircase, it was steep and narrow. I had never really suffered from claustrophobia but at that moment I thought I did. I swallowed the urge to throw up and looked at Black Star,

"Carry me."

Black Star looked shocked

"Why?"

I shook slightly before responding,

"Looking at it is making me feel sick,"

Black Star sighed haughtily and without warning, scooped me up into his arms, he took a step into the stairway and I freaked out slightly, I squeaked with fright and then buried my face into his chest. He smelt like a mixture of wood, rain, marshmallows, citrus and freshly baked bread, I giggled at this odd combination of scents but continued to inhale it deeply because there was something so comforting about it. His grip was like iron, and I kind of wondered wether that was because I was heavy, or because he didn't want to drop me. I began to speculate how far up the staircase we were, and was tempted to have a look, but then reminded myself that if I did and then threw up my up-chuck would land all over Black Star, that would even be too awkward for me to handle.

"We're almost there, Natsume,"

I thanked the good Lord Death; it was nice to know that. I clutched his shirt tighter in reply to his update. He said we'd be there soon but I wasn't too sure, I decided to do something to keep me entertained. I pressed my ear against his heart, his heartbeat was nice and steady, I clung to his shirt slightly tighter, there was a hitch in the rhythmic thudding of his heart and it quickened until it calmed and slowed. I was slightly shocked, was that hitch because of me? Though I had no idea why, my cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, and I was silently thankful of the fact that my face was buried in his chest because then Black Star couldn't see my scarlet mug.

"We're at the room now,"

Said Black Star, and as I lifted my head I saw that he and I were standing right out front of room eight, but as I went to hop out of the bridal style position he was holding me in, he clutched me to him tighter, I looked up at him confusedly, he laughed, though it sounded kind of fake, and set me down gently on the floor. I smiled at him,

"Sorry about that,"

"Hahaha! No problem!"

"You'll need to call Tsubaki so she knows were you are, I don't want her dying of worry,"

Black Star nodded and as I opened the door, he walked straight towards the phone. He quickly dialled the number and then I heard someone pick up,

'_Hello?'_

"Hey, Tsubaki,"

'_Black Star, is that you? Where are you? I've been worried sick! I went out to the supermarket, came back and you had disappeared!'_

"Yeah, sorry about that, I wanted to help Natsume walk to the place she was headed to and it started pouring so she invited me in. But this hotel is so crappy, someone as big as me deserves to be staying in five star luxury accommodation. Hehe, get it? Five _STAR _accommodation?"

'_So I guess you'll be staying over there tonight, the rain doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon,'_

"Yep, I guess so,"

'_Okay, Black Star, tell Natsume that I say goodnight, bye,'_

"Bye,"

Black Star hung up the phone and turned to me,

"Tsubaki says goodnight,"

I nodded and then pointed at the bedroom,

"You can sleep in there; I can sleep on the couch,"

He thanked me and then headed towards the room after saying goodnight himself. I lay down on the couch, I was so tired I knew wouldn't take me long to fall asleep, I shut my eyes and drifted off.

I came back into consciousness at around twelve o'clock, but not being able to be bothered getting up, I instead spent some of the time I couldn't sleep staring up at the ceiling. I couldn't help but muse at how lazy I was, I heard a sudden noise, Black Star opening the door of the bedroom, I assumed. I immediately pretended to be asleep. I heard his feet shuffling towards me, I was certain he was going to wake me for another midnight snack, but he didn't, he stopped right beside the couch and leaned in towards me, I could feel his breath fluttering against my face,

"You're such a weird girl,"

He whispered, chuckling deep inside hi throat. He then proceeded to wipe a short stub of hair from my face and walk away. Oh my good Lord of the underworld, what the fudge muffin was that? Crap that was so awkward. I swiftly decided to ignore the situation and squeezed my eyes together tighter,

"Oi, Natsume, make me a sandwich."

Way to ruin the moment, Black Star.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

I roared. I was in no freaking mood to be asked to make a sandwich, for it wasn't until then when I realised how crappy life was being to me right at that moment. First the hotel I was staying in was craptacular, then it rained all over my clean set of clothes, there is a stairway in said hotel that makes me want to puke just looking at it, Medusa wanted to make me her slave girl, my madness was increasing like Mt. Everest and just to top it all off, I was stuck in a small hotel room with the annoying and bothersome Black Star. Yep, pretty damn shit. Black Star's face was immediately smothered with shock,

"Woah, calm down,"

"Sorry,"

I mumbled the word begrudgingly as I rose from my comfy position on the couch. Black Stars features relaxed as I walked towards the fridge, as I had quickly realised, crappy hotels probably provided equally crappy food. I was correct. Inside the fridge there was three bottles of water a loaf of bread and some milk cups well past their used by date. I sighed, there wasn't even enough for the fixings of a sandwich,

"Sorry Baka, there isn't any food here,"

He frowned,

"But the great me needs food every six hours!"

My eye twitched slightly,

"Just go to sleep Black Star, I'll buy you something in the morning, okay?"

"Fine, but you can't forget otherwise the big me will knock you off like a fly."

I nodded and crawled back under the blankets that lay warm and inviting on the sofa.

The rest of the night I slept dreamlessly and peacefully, knowing that as long as I was hanging out with Black Star, when I was sleeping would be the only time I would get for peace and silence.

The next morning Black Star and I both woke up at precisely 6am. I had to wear street clothes that day as my usual uniform was dirtied. I wore a pair of black cargo pants, a white singlet with a fluro green dinosaur outline in the middle, next to the dinosaur it said 'RAWR means I love you in DINOSAUR', over the singlet I wore a college jersey (kind of like the one I saw Soul wearing in a picture at Tsubaki and Black Stars place), its arms were white and its centre light blue. When I walked out of the bathroom after getting changed, Black Star looked astonished, I rolled my eyes,

"I don't have to dress in my work clothes all the time,"

He nodded, his mouth still somewhat ajar,

"C'mon we're going to have to stop at your place before I grab you something to eat, your clothes are filthy,"

He looked down at his clothes,

"What's wrong with these clothes? They are sitting on such a godly body it wouldn't matter if they were only shreds!"

"Maybe not to you, but to everyone else it would be pretty damn traumatic,"

His eyes widened,

"Hey! Don't talk like that to your future God!"

I rolled my eyes and picked up my satchel, I must say that my old fashioned satchel looked quiet weird with my street clothes. After we had gone, changed Black Stars clothes and dragged Tsubaki out with us we stopped at a place called Uncle Joes Coffee they sold not only a strong black coffee for me, but an oversized proportion of pancakes for Black Star who devoured them quickly and hungrily. We walked up to school calmly, well, with Black Star telling us something about how great he was every two minutes, but, yeah, calmly. And just as everything seemed normal, Black Star grabbed me forcibly by the shoulders,

"I can't take this anymore!"

I was shocked for a moment as he pulled me up the DWMA's stairs and to the courtyard,

"Natsume, fight me!"

I looked him straight down the eye,

"Are you sure?"

He nodded surely,

"I'm warning you, Natsume, I won't go easy on you, you could die,"

I laughed and glared slightly at the boy in front of me, whilst secretly adjusting my soul wavelength to his, he looked at me expectantly, and I smirked as I replied,

"Bring it on."

**A/N: HAHAHAHAHA! I tried writing light fluff, didn't really work. at all. but whatever, I hope you liked it, if you did, tell me why in the reviews, if you didn't tell me why not! BIG ULTRA MEGA THANKYOU FOR READING! can you tell I've had sugar? thought so.**


	8. I'd Do Anything

**A/N: Hello, I guess this is me. Giving you. A new chapter? (10 points if you get it) ENJOY **

Black Star and I circled round the courtyard, Tsubaki came up the steps,

"Tsubaki, transform."

Tsubaki was absolutely shocked, or at least that's what her face said as she saw us standing there in combat positions, but in her oh so Tsubaki esque demeanour said nothing and transformed. I pulled out Sister from the leather knife hold on my leg (it was much harder with cargo pants) the weak smog of smoke appeared from the small kunai and Sister appeared in her katana form. I was concerned for a moment, what if my madness appeared? I shook off the thought, this was just friendly banter, obviously not for Black Star, but for me it would be a cake walk. Black Star snickered and shouted as he ran towards me; I jumped breezily over him,

"Nice try,"

Black Star growled, frustrated, turned around and stabbed towards me, dodging him again with a quick step to the side he retreated to rethink his attack strategy. He approached once more, but I could tell it wasn't actually him; the wavelength of this soul was completely different, quiet and not in need of attention, Tsubaki. I pretended to lunge for Tsubaki, but as I felt Black Star moving towards me rapidly from behind, at last minute I spun around and hit him with the back of my sword, but then thought that would be going to easy on him, so as I struck him I shocked him with a large amount of my wavelength, sending it down my katana and through his body.

"Better luck next time,"

I whispered into Black Stars ear as I took two paces away from his limp body. I heard Stein clapping his hands together, I was aware of his spectatorship through out the entire rendezvous, in fact one of the reasons I had worked so hard to maintain myself was because I wanted to prove to Stein that I could fight alone.

"Natsume, next time you shouldn't go quiet so easy on him, if he knew he would only challenge you again,"

I looked towards Stein and then down at Black Star,

"Yeah, well, I'm not willing to kill him just yet,"

Tsubaki, who had reappeared to fuss over Black Star stared up at me, shocked, I laughed,

"But if he keeps up this egoist crap he might drive me so mad that I will"

Tsubaki relaxed at my playful words, but what she didn't know was that I was being serious. The boy was driving me up the wall! I sighed letting go of the grudge I was holding against Black Stars big fat head, and poked him with my index finger,

"Hey, Baka Star, if you don't mind we got to get going to class right about now"

He squirmed slightly, he was just playing up now, even though I defeated him, he was still strong and one wavelength shock from me wasn't going to put him down for the count. I continued to poke him until he became so annoyed that he gave up the act and sprang to an upright seated position, I chuckled deeply,

"No getting out of class for you,"

His features were overcome with surprise, as if I had read his mind. I laughed at his stupidity as he huffily stood up and brushed himself off, but instead of turning in the direction that lead us to class he walked down the stone steps and into the tight labyrinth of alley ways that was Death City, I turned my head towards Tsubaki in confusion, she smiled at me,

"He just needs sometime to cool off, he's not used to being beaten,"

I nodded, still confused, and walked towards our class. I remained confused as Stein took the role and we began our 'morning dissection' I admired Stein with all my heart, but the man seriously needed some professional help. Tsubaki held her hand up and smiled sweetly at Stein,

"That sounds like fun, but maybe we should study for the upcoming exam first, Professor,"

Stein was silent in thought for a moment, as if he was finding an argument for Tsubaki's gridlock excuse, and then sighed in contempt,

"Yes, it seems that is the only thing to do, you are all excused to go to the library for study, as for those of you who are confident enough in your ability, feel free to stay here for a dissection lab,"

Everyone stared at Stein's creepy ass smile for a second and then exited the room as quickly as possible, as I left I heard Stein say something like,

"Kids these days have no sense of destruction!"

I chuckled as I thought about the statement and headed towards the library. Not too soon after I had entered the library did I realise that I wasn't even aware that there was an upcoming exam, I sprinted towards Tsubaki, Maka, Liz and Patty,

"Do you guys know what we're meant to be doing for the exam?"

Maka and Tsubaki turned towards me, but Liz was too busy trying to calm Patty down, Patty was running around the library shouting,

"Yay! Written exam, written exam!"

I laughed at the girls antics but then turned my head back to the other two girls,

"Yeah, it's just basic scythe/meister knowledge, nothing too extreme or anything"

I smiled,

"Thanks, do you think you could help me study, I can't really concentrate on my own,"

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, they both giggled and nodded together, I let out a deep sigh of relief, but just as we sat down to work,

"Natsume Ai?"

A woman with black hair and glasses stood in the door way, I turned my head towards her,

"Yeah, what is it?"

I asked cautiously,

"Lord Death wishes to meet with you in the conference room, if you could please make your way over there immediately,"

I nodded and stood up,

"Okay,"

I followed the woman out of the room, as we walked she out stretched her hand to me,

"My name is Azusa; I am the Death Weapon of East Asia"

I shook her hand firmly,

"By the sounds of it you already know my name,"

She pushed her glasses up her nose and nodded, we walked the rest of the way in silence, as we reached the door she opened it for me, and then walked away, I paused for a moment, considering wether I should enter or not, eventually I decided that refusing the Lord Death wasn't a smart idea and I walked in as calmly as I could,

"Natsume! Heya, hi, hello! Great to see you again, I hope you're feeling a bit better then last time we met,"

My face turned a deep shade of red as I realised that last time we'd met, I had been passed out for a strong 48 hours,

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better thanks."

"Now, Stein has informed me of the situation of you and your sister,"

My eyes widened in shock,

"I was under that impression that everyone knew, Lord Death,"

"Nope! That sneaky Stein is good at keeping secrets, he is."

I smiled at the jovial Lord Death, and was briefly reminded of Patty, I almost laughed at the near similarity,

"Anywho, I was thinking that maybe I could help!"

I stared up at him with surprise,

"But, of course this will come at a price,"

"What kind of price?"

"You will be indebted to me, Natsume, and being indebted to a Death God is a very serious thing, your debt won't die when I do, but instead Kidd-Kun will make sure you pay it, and so on until it is payed off, do you understand?"

I considered for a moment but then nodded,

"What should my debt be?"

I asked, Lord Death thought for a moment,

"300 keishen souls and 3 Witch souls,"

I nodded,

"But that is not all, there must also be a moral debt, this how the deal is signed,"

He paused to think once more,

"You, Natsume, must commit your life to serving others, you must never commit a selfish act that only facilitates you, but you mustn't forget to care for yourself either, get it?"

"Yes, Shinigami Sama,"

I used my native (Well, kind of native) tongue to show him my sincerity,

"Okay, then! Let's get started!"

He motioned for me to draw out Sister, so I did

He stared at her momentarily and then laughed, I glanced up at him,

"What is it?"

He petted me on the head,

"Elementary, my dear Watson,"

I stared up at him, unbelieving that he had already figured out,

"Yes, you see the Witches Mizune-"

"Witches? What's with the Plural, Lord Death?"

He tilted his head to the side,

"You didn't know? There are five Mizune Witches, but to perform this kind of magic they would've needed to be combined at the time, so I'm assuming that's why you don't know,"

I felt like I was going to pass out, that was some total bullshit!

"Now, now, Natsume, you can't faint yet I still need you to revive your sister!"

I grabbed onto consciousness and nodded unsteadily, Lord Death continued to examine Sister for what felt like forever, and as his mask covered his expression, I could only but pray that he hadn't fallen asleep, though I doubted it, because even though the mask was there it was like I could feel his eyes scanning every inch of the curse, maybe like a concentrated aura, his jolly self being hidden for the moment in wake of this strange, serious Lord Death,

"Yes it is very simple indeed,"

He said,

"Now Natsume, prepare yourself for some sleep, you're going to have to travel inside of your Sisters soul once more, do you think you can do that?"

I nodded confidently, for Sister, I'd do anything.

**A/N: OHHHH. The plot development has arrived! The next few chapters should be fun for both me and you if everything goes to plan **** PLEASE REVIEW... please?**


	9. Good Lord Death

**A/N: Hello, why yes, I did almost forget to update on routine. WHOOPS. By the way, you might want to remember certain things from this chapter, because they will come back later on. GIVING NO HINTS HERE. When they appear next, you will know. ENJOY!**

Lord Death laughed happily at me,

"Okay, this will be easy, Natsume all you need to do is enter your Sister's soul and, _together, _you must break down the walls that surround her, the main thing is that you must break her out of her repetitive stupor, her willpower alone could be enough to defeat cheap magic like Witch Mizune's,"

I nodded, but all of this seemed too easy, where was the big ol' 'but' of the situation? Though I fretted and worried about what was going to be the immense hurdle, Lord Death said nothing, waiting there expectantly,

"So that's all I need to do? There's no catch?"

He shook his head,

"The only thing I can think to warn you of is that this may take several attempts over a long period of time before we get it right, so don't be disheartened if this attempt fails, okay?"

I nodded and then thought of another problem we may encounter,

"You got any Prozac?"

Lord Death tilted his head to the side,

"Possibly, but may I ask why, Natsume?"

"To connect with Sister I need to be knocked out hard, you know, deeply unconscious,"

He let out a sigh of realisation,

"Yes, well, I guess we'll have to contact Stein for this one,"

Just as he said this, Stein appeared in the mirror at the end of the conference room, it must be Death God super power or something like that. Stein looked at me and then at Lord Death,

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes actually, there is, Stein, would you have any aphrodisiac strong enough to knock Natsume out for, say, an hour or so?"

"I could find some if you wanted, but it would need to be dulled, my, um, _patients_, need to be knocked out for more than an hour, but yes, I guess I could find something,"

I accepted that by patients he meant poor, unassuming victims and then was slightly relieved as we discovered we could continue on with our attempts of bringing Sister back, Stein had come to deliver the medicine and then left, it was administered in my arm through a needle, and I was knocked unconscious by one of the strongest medical drugs I had ever taken.

I was in the dark room that consisted of two souls, there was mine, bright and rough, and then there was Sisters, warm but broken, I glided towards it and hugged it tightly to my heart, then it sucked me in and I entered her soul world for what I hoped to be the last time. Sister sat were she always did, in the middle of the dark room, repeating the same words over and over I stepped towards her and tugged at her arm,

"C'mon you've got to get up now,"

She stared at me with blank eyes repeating the words that had just began to annoy me,

"Get up, please, Sis,"

She didn't even flinch at the sound of my voice begging her to get up, and I could feel consciousness pulling me away. I panicked and began shouting encouragements but then I was ripped away and awakened. Lord Death sat at a skull shaped table drinking tea from a pink porcelain cup, I smiled at him,

"Hi, I'm back,"

"Welcome back you were out for just over an hour,"

"Really? It didn't feel like that long,"

"Time seems shorter in soul worlds,"

"Like Narnia?"

"Like what?"

"Never mind"

Lord Death and I sat quietly for a moment,

"We will try again, won't we, Lord Death?"

He placed his large hand softly upon the top of my head,

"Of course."

I smiled and exited the room, shaking off what disappointment I felt, I had waited this long, I could wait a bit longer. Returning to the library, I saw Tsubaki and casually asked her,

"Black Star back yet?"

She placed her finger at her chin after greeting me,

"No, now that I think of it,"

I felt a quick and small spasm of worry,

"I'm going to go look for him, be back in a few,"

Tsubaki tried to stop me but I was already leaving the library by the time she had gotten out of her seat to grab my arm. I walked briskly down the steps leading into Death City, and vaguely wondered wether I'd be able to find Black Star or not. I searched the obvious places, stages, large platforms basically anything he could put a 'show' on top of, but when I couldn't find him there, I searched in the darker areas of town, were he could pick a fight. That was were I found him, according to the scene before me, he'd just defeated a local gang of some sort and was now lapping up his victory, I placed my hand on his shoulder and he spun around surprised, I was staring down at the scattered unconscious people that surrounded him, he huffed,

"They thought they could beat me, the man who will surpass god!"

I didn't say anything for a minute, and was briefly thankful that Black Star was on the DWMA's side,

"Yeah, why don't I get you something to eat?"

I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the alleyway,

"Natsume, are you okay? You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine, just a little tired is all,"

He nodded gruffly as I handed him a box of Pocky and continued to walk together,

"Why'd you leave school?"

He asked,

"I was looking for you,"

I replied easily, he grew seemingly uncomfortable at this statement, I mentally shrugged, it was true. We were sitting right on the edge of the Nevada desert, safely on the outskirts of Death City. I bit into a stick of Pocky, the chocolate was melting fast because of the warm rays of sun beating down on us, I stared up at the suns odd facial expression,

"Hey, Black Star?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"You shouldn't take it so hard that I defeated you,"

"Why not?"

"The clan I was apart of taught me how to defeat all kinds of opponents from day one, I knew how to beat you before I even thought I was going to fight you,"

"Really?"

I nodded. I knew what kind of fighter Black Star would be ever since I watched him attack the dummy on my first day, quick and brutal, but also loud, very, very loud. He seemed to relax slightly at my statement and then glanced curiously towards me,

"Could you teach me?"

First I was shocked, but it was then and there that I realised that Black Star would do anything to become the best fighter, the one that would surpass god, even ask for help, of all things, _help_! I considered for a moment,

"And if I do help you?"

He smiled,

"You get to tell everyone that you coached the man they now call God!"

"Just how exactly do you plan on defeating Lord Death?"

He stared at me for a moment,

"When I'm older, you know like Sid's age or something-"

"Wait, Sid's the big blue one, right?"

"Yeah, when I'm his age I'll challenge Lord Death, and if he's not here anymore, I'll challenge Kidd, and if I don't win the first time, I'll train for another year and so on until I'm finally strong enough to be able to tell the world that I'm stronger then a God!"

"And then what? After you achieve this goal of yours, then what are you going to do, sit around and bask in your own glory?"

His face looked startled,

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet,"

I sighed,

"And what about Tsubaki, Soul, Maka, Kidd, Liz, Patti..."

"What about 'em?"

"Where do they fit into your great scheme of things?"

"They'll still be my friends, sure I won't talk to them as much, but my presence is so big, they will be able to feel it where ever they will be!"

I laughed at his absurd behaviour,

"You know if you keep on using words like 'big' all the time, people will think you're over compensating,"

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean!"

"You know what it's supposed to mean!"

I pulled a sleazy face in his direction, and laughed at his face as he obviously began to wonder about the size of... certain male body parts. He shook his head, as if he was trying to rid it of a few thoughts and then glared at me,

"You are so dirty!"

"I'm just saying what everyone's thinking, you can thank me later,"

He continued to death stare me for a minute or so and then I noticed how low the sun was getting,

"We better head back,"

He looked towards the sun just as I did moments ago,

"Yeah, it'll be dark soon,"

I stood up and brushed sand from the back of my cargos, this time he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the DWMA, probably to pick up Tsubaki, and my bag. We saw Tsubaki at the doors of DWMA, I said a quick goodbye to them both and ran inside to grab my satchel and ran out just before they closed the doors and locked them, to my surprise, Black Star was standing waiting for me, I gave him a look as if to say, 'why are you here?' he replied to my quizzical look,

"What? You going to climb the stairs all by yourself?"

My cheeks flushed red as I remembered my little one on one with the stairs, and I distinctly remembered the stairs winning. I sighed and nodded towards Black Star as we made our way back to my hotel.

He delivered me at my door and I stared up at him, he looked as if he was about to leave, so I did what I was trying to do ever since he placed my feet on the ground, I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him,

"Hey, Black Star? Where do I fit into your plan?"

I pulled away to see his face. Good Lord Death, was Black Star blushing?

**A/N: **

**Me: hey, hey reader?**

**You: Yes?**

**Me: Did you know I don't own Soul Eater or any of their characters?**

**You: Yes.**

**Me: Nyoro~n.**

**So tell me what you thought. MAJOR FLUFF/ OCCness FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. Sorry 3 Review?**


	10. Hotel Numbers

**A/N: We've finally made it, dear reader, we are in double digits! I'm so fudging decimal placed right now it is unexplainable. Consider this our tenth anniversary ;). ENJOY!**

Black Star didn't respond to my question for one minute... two... three... four. At four minutes with him staring at me, his mouth ajar, I felt pretty stupid, I could even feel tears start to prick in my eyes. I quickly turned around and opened the door, ready to close it in his face, but just before I could step past it, he grabbed my wrist and then pulled me to him, he then did something I wasn't prepared for, Black Star kissed me. The kiss sent a shiver down my spine and my whole body was covered with warmth, if my lips weren't locked in his I would have smiled. His hand was still gripped tightly on my wrist, but then he let go and curled his arms around my waist. But the fondest part of the kiss was that I felt assured, Black Star didn't run away, he didn't leave me like everyone else did, no, instead, he kissed me. Our lips separated after a few moments, his arms still secure around my waist, and Black Star looked straight into my eyes,

"I haven't known you for that long, less then a week really, and I've never really thought about my future apart from surpassing God, but there is another thing I know about my future now, I want you to be apart of it."

Black Star turned around and walked down the stairs, obviously trying to give me time to think about the statement, but instead of doing that, I smiled unthinkingly and touched my lips. Black Stars lips were dry and coarse, but warm and firm, they had left mine slightly sore. As I walked into my crappy little hotel room I discontinued smiling, half dazed at what was going on and half delighted, I also half wanted to slap him for kissing me without my permission. I pulled my normal work set of clothes out of the washing machine provided in the hotel, and then into the dryer. That night I got the ten recommended hours of sleep for the first time in my life, and peacefully dreamt of a plot to kill Black Star.

The next morning I awoke well rested and ready for the new day. I felt slightly saddened, though, as it was last night that I'd realised that I'd have to put killing Black Star on hold, at least until I could stop concerning about Sister, but somehow that realisation didn't dampen my excitement at seeing him again, no rather it made me all the more nervous. I changed into my work clothes piled some books and other necessities into my satchel, and then there was a knock at the door, my heart fluttered in my chest briefly and my brain madly said something like 'Here's the little prick who decided to run off after stealing the only first kiss I'll ever have', I ran forward to open it and outside stood... Kidd? I was startled for a moment,

"Hey, Kidd, what are you doing here?"

"Black Star advised me that you'd need some help getting down those stairs,"

He gestured towards the Stairs From Hell, as I'd nick named them, and all romantic feelings I had held for Black Star were smothered. I smiled at Kidd,

"Thanks,"

"He also told me to give you this,"

He held out an envelope with a messy scrawl at the front that I'm sure read 'Natsume' on the inside it was equally as messy and said:

_Natsume,_

_The big me is going on a mission! Sorry that I couldn't tell you, it kind of sprung up out of nowhere, that's why Kidd is there, I know he isn't quiet as impressive as I am, but this mission will be a cake walk, so I should be back in time to see you tonight, _

_Don't miss me too much!_

_Black Star._

I laughed at the boys' obnoxiousness and slipped the note into a pocket on the inside of my vest. Kidd held out his hand,

"May I?"

I mused at him, he was so formal. I took it and he slung me onto his back, I smiled devilishly as I thought of how to stir him up,

"Not too hefty for you am I?"

He began to mutter apologies and then said,

"No, not at all,"

"Really cause the other day I was a 'heavy obstruction'"

He mumbled uncomfortably,

"I hope I'm not too heavy to you, because, you know, Black Star can pick me up without breaking a sweat,"

He looked frustrated,

"I apologise, Okay? May we leave it be know?"

I untidied his hair,

"I was only stirring you, Kidd,"

His arms were underneath my knees at that moment in time, but if they weren't supporting me they would have been straight on his hair, rearranging his black and white locks. Once we reached the bottom of the Stairs From Hell, Kidd placed me on the ground. Liz and Patti were down there waiting for him. Patti pulled me into a hug before I knew what was happening, I hugged her back immediately and we stood like that for a moment as she shouted,

"Natsume is here!"

We then released one another and my eyes drifted towards Liz she waved and smiled in greeting, I did the same. She then decided to make the observation,

"Jeez, Natsume, if we knew you were going to be staying in a hell hole like this, we would've invited you to stay at Gallows Manner, wouldn't we, Kidd?"

Kidd looked around, unimpressed with my accommodation,

"Certainly,"

I chuckled at the obvious display of their own indulgence and then shook my head,

"It's okay, I only have two more days here any way, and I've grown to like Norm. Good morning Norm!"

I waved happily at the attractive boy working behind the counter, he stuck his middle finger in the air, waved it around and smiled at me, Kidd looked scandalised and Patti laughed at it, of course. Kidd looked around, seeming quiet ill,

"That's... lovely. Now may we please leave, the lack of symmetry in this Hotel is absolutely horrid,"

We made our way out the door and towards school. It was a rather uneventful day; the most interesting thing that happened was that I met Kilik. He had approached me in class,

"Hey, you're Natsume, right?"

I smiled and nodded,

"I'm Kilik, and these are my weapons Thunder and Fire,"

Glancing down at the two little ones I smiled even wider,

"Wow, they look really young, they must be pretty powerful to have their weapon powers appear so early,"

He nodded,

"They're five now but their ability appeared when they were three,"

I stared stunned at the cute children in front of me, staring up curiously with their big blue eyes,

"Amazing,"

"You said it, I'm their meister and sometimes I'm even surprised by their raw strength,"

I nodded, understanding what he meant,

"You're a cool guy, Kilik,"

"Thankyou,"

"No problem,"

"Well, I got to go, but lets talk again, okay?"

I bumped his fist which was out stretched to me,

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

But other then that and Stein trying to dissect a red panda (my favourite animal); nothing noticeable really happened at all. Black Star didn't even turn up. And just as I thought the day was going to be near normal, a loud happy voice I recognised as Lord Death's came pounding over the speaker system wired around the school,

"Attention, all students! This is an official notice stating that the Death Weapon Meister Academy's annual ball will be held in a weeks time, sorry for the short notice"

I looked around at Kidd, who was standing next to me,

"Annual ball?"

My face was full of scepticism as he turned to me,

"Yes, I suppose Father found something appropriate about that time slot, I suggest you begin to prepare, it is very formal,"

"I'm not going."

Kidd snapped out of maturity mode,

"What, how can you not go!"

"Easy, I won't turn up,"

"Why not,"

"Because, weapons will be hanging with their meisters and people will be making out, I would just feel awkward, plus, I don't like wearing dresses."

"So, this all because your sister won't be able to be there, isn't it?"

I looked down at the floor,

"Maybe..."

I hated it when people could see right through me like that, but I guess that was my own fault, I was a horrible liar. He stared at me for a few more moments,

"Don't let that stop you from living,"

He looked honestly concerned,

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure Black Star will make sure you're never bored, Black Star will make sure no one is bored,"

He sighed, realising that if Black Star was there, trouble would be too. I laughed at this recognition,

"No deal, Kiddo,"

"Fine, if not for any of us, do it for Father, he takes so much happiness out of watching the students being all together and laughing, it's the highlight of his year."

That made feel guilty, I liked Lord Death a whole lot, especially because he was trying to help me with Sister, so I begrudgingly nodded,

"Yeah, okay, whatever."

I finally gave in and Kidd smiled,

"Excellent, well I look forward to seeing you there,"

He walked away, and I almost stopped him because, as much as I was ashamed to admit it, I would still need help getting up the Stairs From Hell, damn you, claustrophobia! I decided not to, if I could defeat an Italian mob boss, I could walk up some stairs, maybe. I walked to the hotel slower than usual, dreading the narrow stairway that awaited me, but eventually arrived there anyway, Norm looked at me,

"Bet you twenty bucks you won't be able to do it,"

Damn you, Norman! My competitive streak got the better of me,

"Make it fifty and I'm in,"

He considered for a moment, but then nodded,

"Deal,"

I closed my eyes and clambered up the stairs, tripping several times on my way up, and then I finally hit flat ground and fell flat on my face,

"Norm, you can pay me tomorrow!"

I heard him curse at me, while laughing though. I opened the door and walked straight into the shower room, I had a quick shower and briefly wondered where Black Star was. I flopped on the bed, and then the telephone rang, I picked it up tiredly,

"Hello?"

"Hey, Natsume,"

I heard Maka's voice,

"Oh, hey Maka, what's up?"

"Well all of us girls are going dress shopping tomorrow, you know, for the ball,"

I almost hung up on her for mentioning the word dress, but then thought better of it; I didn't own any formal attire,

"Yeah sounds good, tomorrow is Saturday, right?"

"Yep"

"Okay, see you then, bye,"

"Later,"

I sighed sadly; I couldn't believe I was going to have to wear a dress. Hold up, how did Maka get the number of my Hotel?

**A/N: Hehehehehehehehe. For some reason I don't believe that Natsume will fare well at this upcoming ball. I'm sorry I suck at writing FLUFF so there was less then I had hoped. I wish you liked this chapter anyway and if you didn't, tell me why in the reviews :). Have a lovely week, LOVE,  
ME!**


	11. Maybe

**A/N: Good morning, good afternoon, goodnight. How are we all? I just wanted to say thankyou for all the comments you have been leaving; they really make my day :) Apart from that, the only other thing is that you enjoy this chapter!**

I awoke the next morning to the sound of someone shouting outside my hotel door, the conversation I overheard went something like this,

"Blair! You can't just turn up to places when you're not invited, it's impolite!"

That was Maka, I was sure of it,

"Ohh, doesn't Maka want me to come with her?"

This voice was more mature, yet at the same time very childish, a friend of her Mother or something? I got dressed quietly as they spoke,

"That isn't what I said, next time you can't just sneak along with us, you should at least tell us that you're coming first,"

The older woman sighed,

"Yeah, Sorry..."

"Okay,"

Then Maka knocked at the door, I answered it immediately, her cheeks flushed,

"Did you hear our conversation?"

I nodded, unashamed of my eaves dropping, Maka had her book out, ready to chop someone in the head to release some frustration, but then she sighed,

"Well this is Blair, no she's not a witch,"

Blair smiled,

"I'm just a kitty with strong magic,"

I nodded in acknowledgement and stuck out my hand,

"Nice to meet you,"

She shook it, accidentally digging her long nails into my skin. I also waved at Tsubaki, Liz and Patti who were standing right behind her. I noticed that she was very scantily clad and pulled her inside, along with every other person waiting outside me hotel room door, I grabbed my suitcase and let her pick out some clothes, Blair looked at me confused

"Why are you giving me some clothes?"

"Okay, one, there is no way in hell that any formal wear store would let you in dressed like that, and two, I'm _lending_ them to you not giving them to you."

She, Maka, Liz, Patti and Tsubaki all nodded in unison, as if recognizing my point. I sighed, they were all really smart, but sometimes they didn't display any common sense. Blair took my least favourite pair of shorts, they were a little too short, and the only purple top I owned, it said 'Haters gonna Hate' on the front, I was very fond of that top, and as I watched Blair enlarge it with the words

'Pump-Pumpkin-Pump-Pumpkin Pump-Pumpkin Pumpkin',

I kind of hoped that she could change it back afterwards. I looked around, Tsubaki was wearing a skirt that hovered just above her knee, it was a plain beige colour and a black turtle neck, on anyone else it would have looked horrible, but it suited Tsubaki. Maka wore a plain pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt with the word 'Buffalo' on it, she had also let her hair down, which I'm sure was a rare sight, though I have to say, it looked really nice. Liz wore a low rise pair of black jeans with a lavender singlet that just exposed her belly button; I was kind of surprised to see her wearing such a feminine colour, for she didn't seem the type to do that style. Finally, Patti wore shorts similar to her usual ones except they were bright yellow and underneath she wore fluro aqua tights, unsurprisingly, her top was also a bright colour, a blazing red, though what surprised me most is that her and Liz weren't wearing hats, I'd never seen them not wearing one before. Tsubaki smiled at me,

"You look nice today,"

I almost laughed; Tsubaki was too nice for her own good. What I wore was very boring, to me any way, my jeans were as red as Patti's top and my t-shirt (as always) had a phrase on it, it read 'Team Edward Elric, Cause Only Men's Automail Should be Sparkly' in bold red writing that matched my pants, and for foot attire I wore my favourite pair of converse sneakers, they were white with silver embellishments of random things, like an alligator one moment and a London bus the next. I smiled and thanked her anyway, and once Blair was dressed, we left the apartment. I bet you couldn't guess, I walked down the stairs all by myself. Maka looked around,

"I know there is a dress shop down Reverence Street, but I think we'd be better of looking at the less expensive places first."

We all agreed, especially me, I didn't have much cash left. We walked towards the entrance of a shop called 'Dresses and Suits' well, they felt creative, didn't they? We walked in and surprisingly enough, the store was huge, they had everything I could think of dress wise, though I was no expert, but it seemed a good place to start. Maka initiated the search,

"Right, we're all here to help each other, so if you find a dress that you think would suit someone else, pick it up. But, firstly, lets all give a few hints as to what we're looking for. I, for example, can't wear anything lower than the knee, please, Tsubaki, do you have any requests?"

"Umm... Nothing too revealing please,"

She smiled. Pshh as if I was going to let her look like a nun. Maka pointed to Liz, indicating for her to go next,

"Preferably something figure hugging, this will be one of the few events where Kidd isn't making us wear the same thing, so I want to dress up as much as I can,"

I felt sympathy for her; I would hate having someone else dictate what I wore. Patti's demand was simple,

"Yellow!"

Then, finally, me,

"I will not wear any of the following: frills, lace, ribbons, pink or any variations of pink, poofy, tacky and/or fluffy."

My face kept completely serious through out the whole list, and everyone looked amazed at all my requirements. Maka seemed to go over them once again in her head, and then,

"Okay, let's look!"

All at once, the girls dispersed and I was momentarily stilled by the solemn looks on all their faces, excluding Patti, of course. I browsed near the section in the front left corner, and decided I'd make my way around from there. One was too girly, another too tight, too long, too short, too slutty, too prudish, too loose, too much, too plain, too bright, too dark, too white (I eat rather messily), too casual, too formal... and then I found one and it continued on like this until I found another, by this time, all the others had picked up five dresses so at random I closed my eyes walked up to a random group of dresses and grabbed one, I put it underneath the other two dresses so I couldn't see it, I didn't want to go to all that trouble just to put it back. I then found one dress for each girl attending the dance and headed towards the changing rooms, Tsubaki was first to try on her chosen clothes, there was some shuffling noises as all of us waited for her,

"Okay, how does this look?"

She walked out in a dress that was at best vulgar, we all cringed, she got the message and went back into the change room, this time trying on a gown that Maka had chosen for her, when she walked out she looked great, it was black and long, just sweeping the floor, it also had a slit down one side, revealing her leg and not looking over exposing at the same time, we applauded, maybe a little too loudly and next in the change rooms was Maka, a few minutes of suspense and then,

"How do I look?"

The dress was pink and had many different frills, bows and patterns all over it, no one else spoke for a moment, I sighed,

"Maka, I am telling you this because I care, that dress looks like a flamingo committed suicide and someone draped its dead body over you."

I tossed at Maka a article of clothing I had found earlier, she chopped me on the head with a book that seemed to appear out of nowhere and as I rubbed my head I heard her reluctantly changing into the gown, but as she stepped in front of us you couldn't deny it was good on her, it was the same colour green as her eyes and had a babydoll kind of look about it, disguising her small chest with ease, I stuck my thumb up, Liz nodded Patti shouted 'YES!' and Tsubaki gave an approving smile. Liz volunteered to try on her stuff next, she first tried on her choice which was a little too short for a formal event, then the one Patti chose out for her, it looked like someone had gotten every colour imaginable and put it on one outfit, very Patti, but not so much Liz, finally she tried one that Tsubaki picked out for her, she stepped out and I yelled,

"Liz, you're a vision! A thing of beauty!"

I used my best Kidd voice I could, and everyone started laughing, this dress was red, it billowed out at Liz's knees at the top there was a neatly crafted red silk bow upon her chest and a strap that instead of going over her arms went around her neck. Patti had already decided the thing she wanted to wear, but we insisted she try it on anyway, she went into the change room and seconds later (literally, the girl changed like a panther) skipped out, it was, of course, bright yellow with a few black flowers embroided along the hem, the line of the dress flew out at her hips and ended about three inches above her knees, very cute, very Patti. Finally I tried on my clothes. I tried on the first two with no success, it wasn't like they had looked bad they just hadn't looked good either. I wanted to try on my surprise dress, for all I knew it wouldn't even fit. I pulled it on, it was deep blue with a black ribbon lining my waist, it fell just before my knees, somewhere in between the lengths of Liz and Patti's but I liked it never the less, and before I had even left the change room, I knew that would be the dress I would buy. Maybe.

**A/N: I'm sorry that not much happens in this chapter, but it will get better, plus I liked writing about all of the girls together. Blair, oh how I love writing Blair, and I'm kind of sad she didn't appear more in here :( Anyway, school is out for me now, so be expecting better content some time soon. Love you for reading,**

**Me.**


	12. Apocalypse

**A/N: Sup, guys? I know I fail at life and all that inhabits the earth hates me. But I beg for your forgiveness, I'm uploading 2 because these are kind of filler chapters, some things will come up again so keep your eyes peeled for chapter 12/13 references :) ENJOY!**

After we'd left the dress shop we were all stunned that it hadn't taken us longer, and even though it was a good experience, I was glad it was over. Just before we dispersed, I turned around quickly,

"Oh, yeah! I'm moving to an apartment tomorrow, could you guys come over for lunch? The address is 14 Penance Road I think, but the house is painted bright sky blue so it's hard to miss, you can bring your partners as well, 'kay?"

They all nodded and gave thanks and then I was left to walk to the hotel. When I arrived, Norm waved nonchalantly, I walked towards him, bored and not wanting to be alone,

"Hey Norm,"

He looked bored,

"If you're here for your fifty dollars it's going to have to wait until next week, that's when my pay comes in,"

I laughed and shook my head,

"Don't worry about it,"

"So, you're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yep, it's good that the apartment comes with some shitty furniture, cause then I can commemorate my stay here with it,"

"How?"

"Preferably by burning it... slowly."

He chuckled, not insulted at my obvious jibe at the accommodation, he grabbed some envelopes and tossed them at me

"You got mail,"

I looked at the envelope, on the front it had an unmistakable long, slanting script, it was a letter from Yukan Meiyo, a friend of mine from Japan. He was the only person I spoke to about the execution of my clan. He was also the only person I had promised to keep in touch with, how he found my location I don't know, but it was sweet of him to look for me nether the less. I semi-wondered wether this would be a business letter, I had left Yukan in charge of legal matters related to the mass murder of the clan, the funds of the clans fortune all rolling over to Sister and I, the only remaining heirs. I opened it carefully, as if it would make a difference how I opened it, the letter said,

_Natsume Ai,_

_I have contacted you under premise #119 of your clans will, the will states that 'ten percent of all profits after the clans' demise shall be given to an honourable cause; with no argument from any clan member (should there be any remaining).' _

_I don't get it, Natsume, this whole will is way too detailed it's like they knew exactly what was going to happen, they even predicted a remaining member, it's like Master Keminji planned it all, and I'm still expecting him to jump out of the broom closet, laughing, exclaiming how this was all just some elaborate training scheme. You now me Nat, I can't deal with these things, I'm a sensitive new age guy, and it doesn't help that your not here because right now I need your ballsyness just as much as you need my (amazing, if I do say so my self) openness with emotion. I can tell that you're doing something to make this all better for everyone, though, so I'll just have to rough it, right? I know that is something you would've said (you and your damn brutal honesty). My heart is with you, love, don't dare do anything to hurt yours, because it'll affect me too. Got it?_

_Yours Freaking Sincerely,_

_Yukan._

I laughed at my friends' letter; he had such random mood swings, even in letters. One second he was all serious lawyer/business man then he was pulling his hair out and then he was, as always, concerning for my wellbeing. I just couldn't wipe the grin off my face when I thought about the line speaking of Master Keminji, my clans' father, because it was something he would do. In many ways Master Keminji reminded me of Lord Death, maybe that was another reason I liked the man, well technically speaking, the God. They were both insanely jovial and slightly childish, and just like Master, Lord Death looked out for all his children with no ranking or priority.

And in a sudden rush of nostalgia and homesickness, I realised just how much I missed Yukan, sure he was an annoying little prat whose head was shoved so far up his arse that he had probably never seen the light of the sun. But he was my annoying little prat with head-up-arse syndrome, and no matter what shape he was in when I saw him next, be it young or as old as the mountains, so help me Death God, I will hug him so hard he would catch a glimpse of heaven due to lack of oxygen. Yeah, I'm really just that badass. Norm looked at me curiously,

"So, a letter from your Boyfriend?"

I laughed,

"Hardly, it was a friend of mine named Yukan,"

"How do you pronounce it, Yu-can?"

"No, more Yu-carn, just less of a prominent 'r' sound,"

Hehe, Japanese names were so weird (in a totally awesome way). I suddenly came across a random thought and turned away from the letter and towards Norm,

"Hey, since we praise the God of Death, does that make us Satanists?"

He shrugged,

"Never really thought about it that way, but I guess so."

"And if there is a Lord Death does that mean there's a Lord Life or something like that?"

"Probably, why don't you ask Lord Death?"

I winced,

"The guy is scary sometimes. I don't want to be in his bad books,"

"I dare you to ask him next time you talk,"

I sighed and nodded, giving into my competitiveness. Damn you, Norm, and your knowledge of my weaknesses! I looked at him for a moment,

"Why didn't you go to the DWMA?"

He scoffed at the idea,

"I can't handle conflict; I get way too riled up. Plus, I'm not the best with all that athletic crap."

I nodded,

"What made you come to Death City, then?"

"My Dad, he's the local fish monger. Pervy idiot's always talking about some chick called Blair, right in front of my Mother, too,"

"Does she care?"

"Not really, heck, as long as Dads bringing in as much money as he can for me and my siblings, she doesn't give a damn about infidelity,"

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?"

He puffed out his chest proudly,

"I'm the oldest, but I have six little sisters and four little brothers. Actually, I have two older siblings, twins you know, Darling and James, they moved out a year ago,"

Just for fun I looked up at him,

"List their names,"

He recited all of them without a stumble,

"James, Darling, Myself, Louie, Hewed, Rebekah, Daisy, Jill, Raymond, Mathew, Lauren, Cassidy and Amber."

I laughed at this evident display of love for his siblings. I suddenly felt much more respect for Norm as he spoke each and every one of their names with such respect. He smiled at me,

"They're the reason why I'm still in Death City. I would've left a long time ago if it weren't for them,"

"Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm turning 21 next week,"

I was shocked,

"Bloody hell, Norm, no offence, but you don't look a day over 17,"

He nodded,

"I know, it's a freaking curse, I swear,"

I laughed and petted him on the back,

"I better be going,"

He nodded,

"See you tomorrow for the Key collection,"

Norm was tremendous, someone I was glad to call a friend. Unlike some Blue Haired people who shall remain unnamed. I kept my mind preoccupied with scathing thoughts of afore mentioned Blue Haired person, so that I wouldn't think about the stairs I was climbing up. I finally reached the top of the staircase and who should see lounging out the front of my door but Blue Hair himself,

"What are you doing here, Blue?"

"What'd you just call me?"

I pointed at Black Stars locks,

"Bah-Lue"

I sounded it out as I would to a child, he ruffled his hair resentfully. Black Star huffed and grunted in annoyance. He had such a way with words, don't you agree? I got back to the point,

"Why are you here?"

He shrugged,

"I haven't seen you in a while. I figured you'd be missing the Great Me,"

I then decided to get my revenge, I slapped him over the back of the head with so much force, that his nose literally began to bleed,

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"THAT WAS FOR KISSING ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, IDIOT!"

He rubbed his arm nervously,

"Yeah, sorry about that..."

I sighed,

"It's fine, just don't do it again,"

Thankfully for him, he was smart enough to drop the topic. Or not,

"So, was it ni-"

I silenced his inquiry by shoving some random piece of paper into his mouth. He didn't seem to like that. I sniggered wickedly, or is cackled the right word? Needless to say that I enjoyed my moment of silence before he spat it out,

"Sorry, Natsume,"

He said it like he wasn't actually sorry, but I forgave him any way, because I'm nice like that. Black Star then invited himself inside,

"I heard your moving out tomorrow, do you need help moving houses?"

"No, I've only got about three bags to carry, I'll be alright,"

"Okay, I might come over to help anyway, though,"

"Why?"

"Because even a big guy like me offers a friend some help once in a while,"

I stared out the window, too uninterested to be bothered scolding Black Stars egomaniac behaviours, I realised that you could see all the stars when you're out in the middle of Nevada desert, Black Star looked in the direction I was staring,

"Once when I went to Tsubaki's place, I was looking at the stars and I said 'If he black night sky was me, then all the stars would be Tsubaki' but now that I think about it, I got it all wrong,"

I looked at him, my eyebrows raised, encouraging him to go on,

"I saw that each and every one of us are stars, but I'm gonna be the sun!"

He was an obnoxious brat with a superiority complex, but no matter what you can't help but admire his sheer determination. His hand was rested on the window, as if he could reach out and grab his star from the sky, set it alight and make it the brightest star in the whole galaxy. He turned away from the window and smiled at me,

"I figured out which star Natsume would be,"

Black Star and astronomy, huh? I stared up at the sky curiously,

"Which one is me?"

He stood behind me and guided my hand, my finger was pointing at the brightest star in the whole vicinity, it was blood red and I realised it was a very famous star. Black Star smiled,

"That ones on Taurus' head, it is the brightest star in all of the sky we can see just by the human eye, Tsubaki's is just as bright as yours, but you need a telescope to see it. My star is huge you won't be able to see it because it's so far away. My star is almost as big as the sun,"

Black Star just had a semi-intelligent thing to say. Dear Lord it's the apocalypse.

**A/N: Norm does become a reoccurring character, so believe it or not, this banter was important, on to the next chapter! **


	13. Through the Door

**A/N: Part two of my double upload, please enjoy the story!**

After about 30 minutes of shameless persuasion and bribery, Black Star finally left my apartment. I crashed for the night, and I crashed hard. When I awoke the next morning I immediately began packing my bags, I actually fit all of my clothing into one suitcase. I pulled out a band top I had bought at a concert. It had 'The Cat Empire' spelt neatly on the front in small font and then underneath was the logo of the band and the faces of the band members. I pulled on a pair of track pants. I was in the mood for comfort, not style. I put all my other things into a large duffle bag, the third (and smallest) bag I filled with snacks for when everyone came to my place later on. Then I went down stairs to give Norm my keys,

"Hello, Miss. Ai. I suggest you are here to drop off your keys,"

Norm spoke in a formal tone and winked at me; I laughed and placed the keys in his outstretched palm. He sighed,

"It's going to be a hell of a lot quieter round here now,"

"Try not to miss me too much,"

I just sounded like Black Star. Norm looked me in the eye,

"Oh, but I will anyway. If you ever need any fish, drop by 'Fish'n'Fry', only on weekends though. I don't want you alone with my pervy dad,"

"Okay, fish will become a Sunday tradition, then!"

I proclaimed. Norm smiled sadly as I stood there with all my bags, ready to leave. My sense of personal space snapped,

"That's it! Norman, get over here and give me a hug, God dammit!"

I pulled him from the counter and got him in a bone crushing hug that only someone with my hugging experience could do. I was the Hug-Jedi Master. I heard someone opening the door,

"Am I interrupting something?"

I turned around, Black Star stood there waggling his eyebrows suggestively. I shook my head,

"No, but do you want in?"

I opened up the hug as if to say 'Join us, Black Star' *insert creepy pedo smile here*. Black Star laughed and shook his head. Black Star's laugh was annoying. His laugh was more annoying then the sound of Lemurs eating small children to the 'Carameldansen' on repeat. No kidding, okay I'm kidding. Maybe. Black Star picked up my duffle bag from the floor and waited for me to say my goodbyes to Norm, after I had done, we walked out the door. It felt weird knowing that would be (hopefully) the last time I had to walk out of the Hotel. Black Star looked down at me (yes, I am shorter than him, no I will never mention this to him),

"I hope that your apartment isn't as crappy as that dump was. Especially that Norm guy,"

I got defensive,

"I like Norm, don't bag him,"

"Whatever. He was so intimidated by me; I guess he could tell that I was the biggest Star there!"

And then came the maddening lemurs-eating-children-carameldansen-laugh, so god damn annoying! I was going to hit him, but as my duffle bag was slung around his shoulder, I decided to wait until we got to our destination instead,

"More like the biggest dickhead,"

I mumbled, fortunately he couldn't hear me trough all his uproarious laughter. He looked at me curiously after his laughing had died down, glancing at the letter I still clutched in my hand,

"Who's the letter from?"

"A friend from Japan,"

"Then why is it in American?"

"It's written in _English_, Black Star, _English_. And it's written in _English_ so that the post office could read the writing on the letter to know where to send it to and to understand the my friend and I weren't trading any illegal narcotics,"

"What are narcotics?"

"Drugs, narcotics are drugs,"

"Psht, why didn't you say that in the first place?"

I let out a whine of frustration as I ignored his question completely. But still it wasn't too long before Black Star had another question,

"Where are you living now?"

"Um, I think it's something like Penance Road or it's similar to that,"

"Nah, it's defiantly Penance Road. That means you live right down the street from school, and Kidd. "

He added Kidd like he was an after thought; I hated it when Black Star was like this. He was too childish and self centred to ever concern about others. I knew that, it was hard to deny, but still somewhere deep inside the vortex of my brain, a little (stupid) voice was yelling; 'Hey, Natsume, you've got the wrong idea, you don't hate Black Star at all, do you?' then a big wave of denial would wash through my brain and I would remain blissfully unaware of the situation at hand. The Black Star scoffed,

"You should've bought a place down Commandments Avenue, that's were me, Soul, Maka and Tsubaki live."

Completely ignoring correct grammar, he put himself before everyone else. A brick of realisation hit my head. Black Star always put himself in front of everyone else, even when listing names! Hallelujah, I have seen the light! But not really, because I kind of already knew that. I sighed,

"The apartment is nice, the rent is cheap, I live near school and if I need him, Kidd is close by, sounds pretty good to me,"

Black Star pulled a weird face,

"Why would you need Kidd? All he'll be able to do is shoot things and obsess over symmetry. What you really need is the awesome me!"

"Heck no."

I burst his ego before it had any more chance to inflate, at the rate it's going Black Star's ego will become a super massive black hole and then devour the universe. In fact if it got any larger, his head would inflate to the size of Pluto. He looked at me with an obnoxious smirk,

"You're just jealous of my epicness, YAHOO!"

I put my index fingers in my ears before he reached the loudest part of his 'battle cry' (yes that is really what he refers to it as) and unplugged them as soon as it was over. My Black Star immunity is truly amazing. I looked at him, half laughing,

"Epicness isn't a word, Baka Star,"

"Well, now it is!"

"No, it isn't. You can call it a word when it appears in a dictionary, 'kay?"

"Oh... well, how about awesomesauce? Is that a word?"

"Not really, but I like that one, so I'll let it slide,"

We arrived at my apartment, the tenant stood out front. She was a bulbous woman, who looked unmistakeably motherly, with a big kind smile plastered on her face she looked at me,

"You must be Natsume Ai, yes?"

She had a thick German accent; I put out my hand as an offering for her to shake. Instead she pulled me into a tight, bone crushing hug, if I was the Hug-Jedi Master, then she was the Hug Darth Vader, except she wasn't evil, hopefully. She beamed, if possible, even brighter,

"You may call me Anna,"

When Anna released me I grinned at her while regaining my breath,

"Lovely... to meet... you... Aunty Anne,"

She looked at Black Star,

"Oh, you're Natsume's friend, isn't she just adorable, calling me aunty! Delightful!"

Black Star couldn't even fit in a word with all Anne's doting. He'd finally met his match. I stifled my laughter and grinned evilly at Black Star. He huffed but remained silent, anyway, Anna handed me the keys and left with one final hug and a quick wave of her hand. I took Black Star inside and we set up the small lunch I'd prepared earlier. I physically had to stop him from eating anything. How he wasn't obese I'll never know, always gorging on food like he did. After I had locked him out on the balcony, I began to clean what areas of the house I could. It was already very clean anyway. But I was a bit of a perfectionist with those kinds of things. I ran around neatening and straightening everything that wasn't flawless before my cleaning attack, with the steady and humbling background noise of 'Oi! Natsume, it's too hot out here just let me back inside!' I ignored the shouting happily until there was a ring at the doorbell,

"I'm coming, one second,"

I opened the door to see Soul and Maka standing there smiling happily up at me,

"Hi Natsume, I made sure we got here at lunch time,"

I looked at a clock that was hanging next to the door, and sure enough it was exactly 12:30, I sweat dropped slightly, it was abnormal for people to be that precise,

"Yeah, come inside…"

They sat down happily, Maka smiled and Soul attempted to look aloof. I almost laughed at their contrast in personality, and then thought that Black Star and Tsubaki had the same kind of contrast. Maybe it was a complimentary soul wavelength thing. Moments later the door bell rang again, Tsubaki stood in the door way holding a platter of sushi and other yummy things, she looked up at me shyly,

"I thought that maybe since you just moved in you wouldn't have time to prepare food so I brought some just in case,"

I had already had the food covered, but it looked good and she had obviously worked hard on it,

"No, it's fine, by the looks of Black Star I didn't make enough anyway,"

She laughed nervously and looked around,

"Where is Black Star anyway?"

"I locked him outside so that he wouldn't eat all of the food,"

She nodded,

"Yeah, I know how you feel,"

I placed the big plate on the table and chatted animatedly with everyone as we waited for the final guests, and as I heard loud laughing coming from outside, I knew that they had arrived. Opening the door I smiled at the faces of Liz, Kidd and Patti,

"Sorry we took so long, Kidd needed to make sure everything was perfect before we left the house,"

Liz said tiredly, I'm sure Kidd could grate on the nerves after a while, but in small doses I quiet liked Kidd. I noticed a large white van parked behind them,

"That thing yours?"

Kidd smiled nervously,

"Ah, yes, we decided as a moving in present we would supply you with some paint for your walls,"

I lightly punched his arm,

"No way, I thought you painted floors! What an interesting turn of events,"

I then, being the polite and good person I am, hugged him and thanked him for his gift. Patti smiled at me,

"Patti got Natsume something too!"

She exclaimed, she held out something for me and it turned out to be a Polaroid camera, with film and everything. I hugged her,

"Thank you very much Patti,"

By the end of the day everyone had decided to paint a wall their favourite colour, therefore I had an assorted house of rainbow. Patti had painted her wall yellow, Liz had painted hers pink, Kidd had tried to paint his black but I eventually convinced him to paint it red instead, Maka had painted her wall green, Soul's wall was orange, Tsubaki painted her wall a lavender-ish colour, Black Star had painted his a stand out blue and I had painted my wall white, sticking on all the polaroids I had taken through out the day. They were mostly of everyone either painting or gorging on the food Tsubaki and I had made, but sometimes I'd get a really nice one, like the one with Soul whispering something into Maka's ear and her blushing slightly, things like that. I looked up my wall. My White Polaroid Wall.

I stepped out of my shower and rapped a towel around myself. everyone had gone home after Kidd insisted he sort the contents of my cupboard while everyone else was cleaning up. I looked into the mirror, there were still a few streaks of paint on my stomach (do not ask… seriously, don't) I sighed and hitched the towel further up. Suddenly the whole room turned a blinding white, as the light faded I saw Lord Death staring at me through the mirror,

"Heya, Natsume!"

My hand was clutched to my chest,

"Hi, Lord Death, you gave me a bit of a fright,"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Anywho, I'm going to need you to come down to the school in, say… now."

I stared at him for a moment, comprehending his order,

"Okay,"

I sighed, if Lord Death needed me I would have to listen to him. He was a Death God after all. I pulled on my work clothes and trudged lamely down to the school, I climbed up the stairs and absentmindedly noticed that they left the front door unlocked at all times, must be for situations like this. I walked slightly more awakened to the Death Room, and as I saw Lord Death still jumping around cheerfully at twelve o'clock at night, I wondered slightly wether Death Gods sleep. He looked down at me from his mirror,

"Wow, you look like crap!"

He informed me happily, I nodded,

"Yeah, thanks,"

He chuckled,

"Well anyway, you've been a very inactive member of the DWMA, I heard that you have only been on one mission!"

I nodded,

"And you called me here at midnight to tell me this?"

"No! I am sending you away for an assignment, but you, of course, will not be going alone. I will be sending someone to go with you"

His gaze turned to the pathway that lead to the centre of the Death Room, I heard steady foot steps coming towards us. I wondered who would be joining me on the mission. I turned around and saw…

**A/N: Who do you think it is? I'll give you a hint, it isn't Black Star *el gasp* Thank you for reading!**


	14. Black Heart Disclaimer Page

**I know this sucks, but I need to do a disclaimer page, otherwise bad things may happen.**

**Soul's eyes are red, Tsubaki's eyes blue, I do not own Soul Eater, please do not sue.**

**FullMetal Alchemist belongs to its creator, not I, an inferior fanfic author.**

**Converse belongs to Converse.**

**Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

**The Cat Empire Belongs to their lovely selves.**

**And everything else referenced to in my story belongs to its original creator, not me.**

**I own only Norm, Natsume, Yukan and Sister. **

**Thanks! Try not to sue me!**


	15. We Don't!

**A/N: You may immediately start throwing sharp, pointy, preferably metal object in my direction. I'm obviously the one in the wrong here. I suck. Please forgive me? Due to holidays my schedule was completely out of whack. That is my excuse. Please except this chapter as a peace offering. **

Kilik. I breathed a deep sigh of relief as I saw the boy and his two weapons coming to stand next to the mirror; Kilik rubbed the back of his head,

"Sorry I'm late Lord Death, you caught me right in the middle of Fire and Thunder's bath time…"

I stared at him in awe, being so young and still acting like a father to these two little weapons. I smiled at Fire and Thunder as they gripped to Kilik's legs, Thunder jumped from one of Kilik's legs and grabbed on to one of mine, I laughed, so did Kilik and Lord Death.

"Yes well, that's okay, but I should warn you both to wake up a little, this mission is big and by big I mean humongous,"

We both tilted our heads to the side for further explanation,

"There is a small army brewing in East Asia, they call themselves the 'Keishen Warriors', their band is growing and I'm afraid we're going to have to stop them before we have a big ol' mess on our hands,"

I was concerned,

"And just how big is this army?"

"Oh, there are only around 200 keishen souls with them,"

"200? YOU EXPECT ME TO KILL 200 PEOPLE? THAT ISN'T JUSTICE! THAT'S MASS MURDER!"

I screamed, Lord Deaths mask looked angry,

"They're no longer people. They're all keishen,"

His voice was dark, deep and terrifying. I glared at him,

"What one has become doesn't change what one once was,"

Kilik put a hand on my shoulder, I shrugged it off, Lord Death looked down at me, his expression softened,

"By killing that keishen soul, you're letting its former soul regain happiness. That is the DWMA's justice."

I looked down at my feet, quietly accepting my defeat. Lord Death cleared his throat and his voice returned to normal,

"Now Natsume, are you willing to fight for their freedom,"

I nodded, my eyes still glued to the floor,

"Good, Kilik, please guide Natsume to the helicopter,"

My head snapped up,

"We're going there in a helicopter?"

Lord Death nodded,

"Yes, is that a problem?"

I shook my head vigorously,

"No! It's awesome!"

They all laughed at my sudden change in attitude. I followed Kilik down the halls of the DWMA, I had thought I'd known my way around the place, but it was made apparent as we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked that I had only seen a very small part of the DWMA's interior. When we finally stopped we were somewhere at the back of the building, and as we stepped out the door in front of us I saw a helicopter pad. A freaking helicopter pad. How the hell did I not see this? Not only was there a helicopter pad, there was also a helicopter. I had to stop myself from saying 'holy shit'; because Fire and thunder were attached to my legs and I didn't want to swear in front of them instead I looked at Kilik as if to say 'the hell is this?' He laughed,

"This is the DWMA's personal helicopter, there are two more of the same model, there are also two more helicopter pads,"

"No way…"

"Yes way, do you think that Kidd would've let the building be asymmetrical with only one?"

I sighed and shook my head. Why wouldn't Kidd put his power to good use? I then cheered up,

"So, are we going to ride in this helicopter or what?"

He nodded,

"Let's go,"

We entered the helicopter. Someone I'm sure I recognised sat in the cockpit, I looked closer. Kilik laughed and yelled at the person,

"Yo, Sid! How goes it?"

Sid, who I recognised as the big blue guy who let me borrow his room, waved,

"Were to, Kilik?"

"East Asia, I'm sure Lord Death has spoken to you about the Keishen Warriors,"

"Okay, Keishen Warriors it is. How are you Natsume?"

"Good thanks Sid, you?"

"I'm alright, Lord Death's got me on transport duty, though, and so I feel kind of like a chauffer,"

I laughed,

"Don't sweat it, Sid. You would make a horrible chauffer,"

He whipped his head around,

"Hey! That's not nice at all,"

"All I'm saying is that chauffers don't seem to talk a lot and are boring conversationalists. You are neither of those options. Now keep your eyes on what's in front of you,"

He sat proudly,

"You're right, I'm a great conversationalist!"

So is that were Black Star got his ego from? No, surely not. I stared out the window idly,

"So how long is this flight going to take?"

"Two days tops,"

I sighed. This was going to be a long ride. Thunder came over and sat on my lap, eventually she fell asleep and her hat fell of, I began playing with her hair, twirling it in my finger's and tufting it lethargically until I fell asleep myself. During my light slumber I could hear the steady whirring of helicopter blades spinning in the air and Kilik's soft humming of a tune that made me feel slightly nostalgic, maybe a television theme song? A lullaby, yes it defiantly sounded like a lullaby of some sort, one that was very familiar.

_Under the sweet smell of the cherry blossom,_

_I sleep dreamful slumbers,_

_Lay my head to rest,_

_Sometimes I may dream of an endless summer,_

_Somewhere where there is no death,_

_I escape my pain,_

_Can be born again,_

_But only beneath the cherry blossom._

I quietly hummed the song with Kilik, my eyes still closed and my brain half asleep. The whirring of helicopter blades came back to me as someone shook my shoulder,

"Natsume, we're here,"

"Five more minutes,"

I mumbled, barely audible against the loudness of whatever was happening outside,

"We don't really have five minutes; Sid landed us right in the middle of the Keishen Warriors head quarters,"

I sprung up,

"Idiot!"

I quickly ran out of the helicopter and stood in battle stance. Lord Death was under estimating, there had to be at least 300 keishen eggs there. Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder had gone into weapon form and I had pulled Sister from the leather satchel, we stood there like that for a few moments, neither side wanting to make the first move. Sid was relocating the helicopter so chances for escape were now minimal. Kilik looked at me meaningfully, I nodded,

"Keishen Warriors, you have gone and chosen the path of the wicked. For that we're here to take your souls!"

They were all stony and emotionless as I yelled the DWMA's trademark line. Kilik jumped in the air as a couple of the warriors sprang towards him, he shocked them with Thunder, burnt them with Fire and I finished hem off with a well aimed jabs of my katana. Red souls lay flouting in their place. Another ran towards me I ducked down and it ran straight into the tip the sword, I stabbed it straight through the heart. I looked up at Kilik,

"We're going to have to work separately, are you cool with that?"

He nodded,

"Just remember to watch your back,"

I closed my eyes, finding my Sister's soul. _We're going to do soul resonance, okay? _It was only a faint whisper but I heard her reply loud and clear, my eyes narrowed and I yelled at the top of my lungs,

"Soul Resonance! Blood Shed Katana!"

In a flash of light the katana's form changed it was about four metres long and the blade which was usually green jade had turned to ruby, the blade wasn't the only thing that had turned red, my eyes were red too with no whites or pupils. I imagine I looked pretty scary/pissed. They ran forwards with an unexperienced fighting finesse about hem, they were in fact so untrained I was taking down the keishen's seven at a time, I felt one jump on my back, in a sudden clash of noise it fell off, I saw Kilik pointing Thunder at it's back, he scowled,

"I warned you to watch your back!"

"Yeah, sorry,"

I quickly returned to the battle at hand, we'd taken down about fifty. Only another two hundred and fifty to go. A whole knew wave of fifty came charging towards us, these were obviously better fighters then the last. They sprinted forwards in groups of five circling us so that we were separated from one another. I waited for them to merge closer to me, I then leapt in the air and spun around, letting a few heads roll to the floor in one swift, swooping action. It was always easier to control my madness when resonating with Sister; it was easier to keep my conscience intact because I had to focus more on wavelength flow etcetera that my mind didn't have time to get carried away with the madness. Five of the Keishen made a line formation and ran straight towards me I speared them with my katana, making a keishen kebab out of them. Hehe, keishen kebab. I lost concentration and Soul Resonance ended, a keishen hit Sister from my hand and she went sliding out of reach,

"Shit! Kilik I could really use some help here!"

He glanced down at me from his position on top of some random boulder,

"Crap, where the hell is your Katana?"

I pointed in the direction of Sister hurriedly the keishen's were moving towards me fast and next thing I knew Thunder was flipping towards me,

"Use Thunder…!"

Kilik yelled, I glanced nervously at him,

"How do we know this is going to work?"

He smiled,

"We don't!"

**A/N: So the fight scene continues in the next chapter and I was hoping you could give me some critique because this is the first fight scene I've ever written. Spot the inexperienced writer!**


	16. I Detest Rodents

**A/N: Another week another chapter. If you're reading this than I beg you to review, reviews are my food and oxygen. Feed me.**

I grinned,

"Kilik, you are awesome!"

Pot of Thunder held my hand and turned to her weapon form. There was no burn or pain when she did, our wavelengths matched. I smiled, the last time I felt my soul actually cooperating with another person's soul was a long time ago. All I felt from Sister nowadays was dull wavelength, like weak static electricity that you would get from rubbing your feet on the carpet, it was nothing like this. I felt a sudden twinge of worry course through me,

"Kilik, how do I use a Pot of Thunder?"

"Just point her in a random direction and Thunder should do the rest,"

"Yeah, okay…"

A Keishen was running toward me at break neck speed I pointed Thunder towards it,

"Thunder, go!"

Bolts of lightning spewed from the pot and hit the Keishen sending it flying backwards, it stood back up and ran towards me again, I aimed Pot of Thunder and she fired with no need for prompting, this time the Keishen did not get back up. I was shooting at random now, Keishen's were falling left to right my eyes searched for Kilik,

"Do you think it would be safe for us to try Soul Resonance?"

"You can try…"

I shut my eyes and found Thunder's wavelength,

"Soul Resonance! Blood Thunder!"

I didn't even know what I was saying. I let our souls do that for me. I felt power jolt through me and as I shot I realised the lightning took invisibility and silence until it reached its victim and then there was blood everywhere. I stopped and stared for a moment, shocked at the destruction I had caused, it wasn't long before a Keishen noticed my distraction and ran towards me I flipped upwards and kicked it in the face, pointed thunder at its chest and fired, blood splattered onto my face, the Keishen was still, but barely, alive. I glared down at it,

"Don't get your filthy blood on me,"

And with a final shot, it was dead. I looked around, there were only two Keishen's left standing, I looked over at Kilik, nodding, we ran forwards and shot one of them at the same time, it fell dead, we did the same to the other. I looked around, breathing heavily, Thunder changed back to her human form and I fell to the floor with my hands on my face. Kilik collapsed next to me. He put his hand on my back, between sobs I chocked out a few words of explanation,

"They all looked so… human,"

Kilik moved his arm so that it was around my shoulders,

"I know. But, Natsume, our work isn't done here yet. For there to be so many Keishen cooperating with one another…"

I growled,

"There's a Witch, isn't there?"

He nodded,

"No doubt she'll come out at some stage to inspect the damage,"

I stood up, pulling a handkerchief from the inside pocket of my vest, I wiped the blood and tears off my face and checked over my clothes; luckily none had gotten on them. I breathed in and out deeply to stop my sobbing. They only looked human, they were all keishen. The proof of this was the hundreds of red souls floating around us; I glanced over at Kilik,

"May as well collect them while we can,"

I collected Sister from the place which she was thrown. The method of my collection was easy. I merely needed touch the soul with the tip of my Katana and Sister would store them inside herself. Kilik seemed to be having a harder time. We'd decided to split the souls evenly between ourselves, 150 each and Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder both insisted that they wanted equal amounts; I watched bemused and walked over to him,

"Split evenly, they should get 75 each,"

He smiled gratefully and mouthed a thankyou, I looked at him,

"So once we kill the Witch they can be Death Weapons, huh?"

Kilik burst out laughing,

"Them? Death Weapons?"

There was more rapt laughter, he drew some breaths between and finally began to explain,

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to allow them to be Death Weapons before their at least preteens,"

I giggled and nodded in understanding, feeling the laugh bubble from my chest felt good, even though I laugh so much it can feel like an eternity of waiting for the next. I looked around,

"How long do you suppose we've been fighting for?"

"Only around five hours,"

Five hours… that meant we had killed 60 keishen an hour, one every minute. I rubbed my face

"How could I cause such destruction?"

I mumbled to myself, both disgusted and impressed in equal portions. Kilik glanced at me,

"How can you be so broken up by this?"

"I can't help it, after losing the ability to see Sister, whenever I kill or even just hurt someone, it feels like my hearts being eaten from the inside,"

"And why do you always refer to your sister not with her name?"

I smiled,

"I always had the feeling that she, when I get her back, would like to introduce herself,"

Kilik stared at me. I felt very self conscience,

"What?"

He smiled,

"Nothing, but that face you pulled just then, it reminds me of something."

"What does it remind you of?"

"Thunder smiles in her sleep, it looked like that, very calm and peaceful,"

I snickered,

"Thankyou, Kilik, it does not bruise my ego at all that you just compared me to a six year old,"

"Five year old,"

He corrected,

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better,"

I rolled my eyes and spoke with heavy sarcasm, Kilik just laughed. I felt pain rip through me at a speed which was unfamiliar, I immediately noticed a foreign object shot through my stomach, I grabbed it with my hand and pulled it out, I didn't feel the pain but I felt the anger that welled up within me. The Witch had arrived in all her killer glory. I turned around and saw her standing upon some kind of boulder. She was beautiful, not even I, in all my hatred, could deny that. Her hair was blonde and pushed back into a tight ponytail at the back of her head; her hat resembled the face of a… ferret? I laughed, it wasn't a nice laugh it was cynical and almost insane,

"A ferret, huh?"

I said, my voice matching my laugh perfectly. The Witches eyes filled with shock at my statement, I inspected her heavily with a lunatics stare, and she stared back calmly. I giggled insanely again,

"You don't look awfully strong to me, are you?"

The mix of blood loss and my own madness was not working in the Witches favour. She didn't answer. I continued my scary giggle as I spoke,

"No matter, no matter, you're going to die anyway, right?"

I felt Kilik staring a hole in my back as I moved towards her,

"Have you ever died before, Kilik? I have."

Kilik and the Witch continued to stare at me. Kilik was worried and the Witch was frightened,

"Dying is not something people should have to endure, don't you agree?"

No one answered me,

"That is why I don't kill people. I kill keishen."

I flung my sword around, not aiming it at anything,

"It hurts at first, dying, and then there is nothing. It was so beautiful; there was just me and the whiteness. Sometimes I wish I had stayed there in the whiteness. Doesn't that sound nice? Forever being caught in a nothing world where no one can touch you or see you? Isn't that something every one wants sometimes?"

The Witch cast a spell I easily repelled it with Sister. I smiled chillingly up at her,

"Before we begin this fight, there is some thing you should know…"

I chopped off her left hand with a quick swipe of my sword,

"I detest rodents."

**A/N: AHAHAHAHA, The madness reappears! I like the next chapter a lot! I'm in love love with it. Have a lovely week, and please review!**


	17. Lulabies

**A/N: Hello to the people out there who are reading this. If we are ever to meet I'll glomp you into the next millennia. Thank you so much for reading this far and I really love reading all your reviews and getting e-mails that tell me things about favourites and author alerts. Sweets to everyone!**

The Witch screamed in pain and jumped backwards at my sudden attack, sending another spell flying towards me, the metal of my katana repelled the hex and sent it flying back towards her, there was a sudden puff of brown smoke, but it had no affect on the Witch, for it was her own magic. I was laughing, still insanely,

"And, pop, goes the weasel!"

She reappeared from behind the smoke; I stared, daring her to make the first move,

"No? What a disappointing little ferret!"

I hummed tunelessly to myself,

"You know what seems like a good idea?"

No one replied,

"Soul Resonance! Blood Shed Katana!"

Sister and my souls connected, my eyes turned the scary shade of red and the katana grew impressively. I sprinted towards her, she blocked my attack with her magic, and I loomed back. I erased my breath and cloaked myself in the shelter of scattered trees. I sprinted forwards again and cut off her other hand. I smiled menacingly,

"No more magic for you, diminutive witchy."

I glanced back at Kilik. He scuttled backwards, falling to the ground in the process, I cackled,

"Don't worry, I don't kill people. I kill keishen."

I said it in an informative voice that rang with sinisterness. Turning back to the Witch, who was putting up an amazing fight considering she had lost both her hands, ran over and swooped out my sword, striking her to the ground so that she could not get back up. I ended soul resonance and pressed the tip of Sister to her throat,

"You know what the only definite way to kill a Witch is?"

She did not respond, yet again. I smiled eerily,

"It is, of course, to devour their Soul!"

I shoved the blade through her neck, pulled it out and stabbed her once more in the heart. I suddenly became aware of myself, of the fact that my madness had taken over. I spun around and stared terrified at Kilik,

"Kilik, I'm so sorry, I can explai-"

My body had suddenly become aware of the fact that some kind of object had left a massive hole in my stomach, and I abruptly passed out. The next thing I remember was the steady beeping of a heart monitor, a woman covered in bandages looked down at me,

"Hello, Natsume, do you remember anything?"

"I-I remember that the madness… and Kilik… Oh my Death Lord, Kilik!"

I sprang up in terror as I remembered Kilik's sickened expression. The nurse pushed me back down on to the uncomfortable hospital bed,

"He's right next to you, don't worry,"

I glanced to the left side of my bed, and sure enough, Kilik was sitting there asleep, with Fire and Thunder also sleeping at his feet,

"How long has he been there for, how long have I been here for?"

"You were brought in here 24 hours ago; Kilik hasn't left you since you were admitted,"

Kilik's eyes opened drowsily, he smirked casually at me,

"How's your stomach feeling?"

I lifted up the long pyjama top that some one had put on me and saw that there were long diagonal stitches, from underneath my left ribs to over my right hip. It was obviously the work of Professor Stein, I shivered. Turning back to Kilik I attempted a grin,

"It looks okay, I guess. Look Kilik, I want to apologise for what you saw…"

Kilik put up his hand to silence me,

"It doesn't matter. I accept you for who you are, and if madness is apart of the package, so be it,"

I smiled tearfully,

"Thankyou, very much,"

He stood up from his chair,

"I think there is someone else that wants to see you…"

He left the room and about ten minutes later, Black Star, Tsubaki, Soul, Maka, Patty, Kidd and Liz entered. I beamed up at the six that were paying attention to me, Kidd was too busy trying to convince the Nurse (I'd figured out her name was Nygus) to let him resort all the cabinets. Tsubaki looked at me, worried,

"Are you okay?"

She asked sweetly, Black Star interrupted my response,

"Don't worry, Tsubaki, she was just Black Star deprived!"

I winked at Tsubaki,

"We both know that's not the case, in fact I think I have a little bit too much vitamin Black Star,"

He laughed his annoying laugh and said,

"There is no such thing as too much me!"

I sighed. Maka looked inquisitively towards me,

"What happened?"

The whole group, even Kidd, curiously turned their heads,

"I went with Kilik on a mission, we battled a shit load of keishen, a Witch came out, and I had a lapse in sanity, therefore I have ended up in what seems to be the DWMA's medical wing."

Everyone looked at me, obviously unsatisfied with my answer; I stared back, not giving any more information. Soon enough, they gave up and sighed in defeat. Soul pulled something out from his pocket and handed it to me, it was an mp3 player. I stared at for a moment until Soul sighed and explained,

"Maka thought we should get something for you because we didn't the other day when we went to your place, everyone chipped in and we bought you a music player,"

I smiled,

"Thanks for the thought, but I don't have a computer, so I wouldn't be able upload songs on there even if I wanted to,"

Soul shook his head,

"It's easy, you go to the internet café down the main street and the store owner will let you upload from there for twenty extra dollars,"

I smiled,

"Sweet, I'll do that on the weekend or something… Umm, what day is today?"

Nygus looked at me with careful eyes,

"Thursday, honey, you spent two days asleep in the helicopter on your way home, and then the other 24 hours since Kilik brought you here,"

The words bounced around inside my head until I finally grasped them,

"Holy shit, I've been out for three days?"

Everyone nodded, I smiled smugly,

"Guess this means I don't need to go to that ball tomorrow, then,"

Kidd's face scrunched up, but Nygus cut in,

"No, you will be fine to go tomorrow, but for today we decided to play it safe and keep you here,"

I nodded,

"Thanks, I'm sure I wasn't in a very good state when I came in. What was in my stomach anyways?"

Nygus glanced at me,

"It seemed to be some kind of magic artefact, you were meant to die from it immediately, fortunately for you, your body seemed to reject it before it had the chance to spread,"

"Did you find out what kind of magic it was?"

She fiddled nervously,

"It was made to induce such a severe case of madness that the physical brain reaction would instantly turn to suicide. Basically, you would be dead right now if you hadn't pulled it out of your stomach as soon as you did,"

"It was meant to induce madness, huh? Must've done its job pretty well,"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Stein removed all that was left of it, so you should be in the all clear for now,"

I nodded thankfully. She seemed like a very nice person. The seven people returned to class and I breathed a sigh of relief. I began to drift off into sleep when I felt something cold and wet being pressed against my hand, I opened my eyes to see Black Star writing something in permanent marker,

"The hell do you think you're doing?"

He flinched back as he heard my sharp voice,

"I was writing my signature on your hand so you would heal faster!"

"Black Star, writing your damn signature on my hand will not, _I repeat not_, make me feel any better."

He flinched back as I yelled forcefully at him. Black Star rubbed the back of his head,

"But, I was really worried, because I was all like 'Natsume, I, the great Black Star, am here to heal you!' and you were all asleep and not responding and stuff,"

I sighed,

"How is writing your signature on my hand meant to help that?"

He looked at me as if to say 'Duh, it will help you because I'm awesome.' Arrogant prick. I held out my hand reluctantly. As he wrote on my hand, his tongue hung out of his mouth stupidly, I laughed at his deep in thought look. He glanced up at me and smiled widely, he then walked away, but once he reached the door he stopped and his expression turned serious,

"Don't scare me like that ever again, got it?"

Black Star didn't give me time to answer but instead just walked away. What is with my friends and mood swings? I thought of Black Star's random mood swing, which made me think of Yukan. And thinking of Yukan made me want to write up a response letter for him. I asked Nygus for some paper and a pen, she obliged happily. I began to scribble away at the paper:

_Dearest Yukan,_

_Yeah, I'm fine with the whole charity thing, who are we donating to?_

_I can't help but agree that some times all of this shit feels way too surreal. You never think it's going to happen to yourself. I am lost without you too, when we next see each other you're getting a death hug, I swear by it. Just so you know, my new address is 14 Penance Road, so send your response there, kay? It's true; sometimes I still expect to wake up to the rookies pulling my hair and Grandpa Keminji singing Christmas Carols, even if it's the middle of March. I admit I miss them all terribly. I am doing my best and wish I could return to Japan immediately, but my work here isn't done._

_I'll tell you, though; the people here are absolutely amazing. First of all there is Maka who seems to be good at everything, except maybe socialising. Her partner is Soul, he is really cool but he doesn't spark too bright in school. Kidd (Yes that is his real name) is completely bizarre, he has a symmetry obsession, though every time I see him, he seems to be more relaxed about it. Liz and Patti are sisters, you would never know if no one told you. Kid makes them wear the same clothes, it's quite funny. Tsubaki is just the sweetest thing ever, that's the only way I could think to describe her, she's so nice. And Black Star is… Black Star, I have a feeling that he is more trouble then he's worth. But I think that the person I like the most at the moment is a guy called Kilik, he accepted me, even after he knew about my madness. I think you would like all of them._

_How is the business going? I wanted you to know that just because I'm not there anymore doesn't mean I'm not a part of our company! Just consider me an employee, minus the pay. How is the new receptionist working out? What is that, your fifth one? I'm joking, I really like Kohaku, just don't be such a man whore this time, it makes all you receptionists feel uncomfortable. How's your dad, is he still doing chemo therapy? How is it working for him? Please give him all my love. And most importantly, Yukan, how are you? _

_Love you and miss you with all my heart,_

_Natsume Ai. _

I put down the pen, folded the piece of paper in half and slipped it into my pocket. Sighing sleepily, I lay my head down on the pillow, letting sweet sleep crash over me within seconds. I could still hear Kilik's light humming at the thudding of helicopter blades hovering in the sky.

_Under the sweet smell of the cherry blossom,_

_I sleep dreamful slumbers,_

_Lay my head to rest, _

_Sometimes I may dream of an endless summer,_

_Somewhere where there is no death,_

_I escape my pain,_

_Can be born again,_

_But only beneath the cherry blossom._

**A/N: I really like this chapter; it's one of my favourites. Just in case you're wondering Natsume/Kilik won't be a thing, they're just good friends. Kilik's one of my favourite characters, **

**WHO (or what) IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARCTER? Love you all,**

**Tess.**


	18. Torture Rambling

**A/N: This chapter is for you, yes you, screw the person who is trying to sneakily read over your shoulder. This chapter is all yours.**

I awoke the next morning to find two very loud sounds emitting from the first aid room. I opened my eyes and discovered one of the noises was the low humming of a portable air conditioner, which was giving lovely waves of cold between all the Nevada heats. The other noise sounded like the starting up of a chainsaw… or chainsaws. I glanced over to my other side and cringed as I found the source of the other noise, because there, sitting next to me in uncomfortable chairs, was both Black Star and Kilik, snoring louder than I had thought humanly possible. I sighed and stood up, Nygus' eyes flashed towards me,

"The clothes you came in with are over here, put them on and then when you're ready you may leave for today. I suggest you get ready for the ball tonight,"

I groaned loudly, I had almost forgotten about the ball. I walked behind a curtain and changed into my clothes, someone had obviously cleaned them for me, as there was no blood splatter on anything, not even my socks. I reappeared and Nygus handed me a bag with some tablets in it,

"These are painkillers; it will be a couple of weeks before you are completely healed and can move properly without them,"

She handed me another bag,

"These will help to heal over your wound; in about two weeks you're going to have to come back for Stein to remove the stiches, please try to refrain from picking at them or scratching your stomach. If at any given time the stitches are causing you more pain then the painkillers can handle, return to Stein immediately to have them removed. "

I stared at her for a moment,

"Why would they ever cause me more pain then the painkillers can handle?"

She glanced at me reassuringly,

"Usually in that situation, it means that the skin is healing over the stitches, this is, as you can imagine, rather uncomfortable,"

I nodded,

"You know, I had stitches before and they dissolved when I began to heal,"

Nygus snorted,

"I'm sure that if the DWMA had enough money for everything like that, we would have something much better than dissolving stitches."

I laughed; I never would have thought that DWMA was low on funds, well not low, but not enough to buy more of the expensive things. They could helicopters, but dissolving stitches? Never. I glanced over at Kilik and Black Star, I decided to be nice and wake them up to say goodbye,

"Oi! Get your asses out of here, I'm going home!"

Kilik jumped up due to my shouting and stared at me for a moment before he became coherent; Black Star just opened his eyes and stared at me, unimpressed. I smiled sweetly,

"Bye, guys thanks for, um, staying with me,"

Kilik stepped forward,

"I'll walk you home,"

I nodded and gave thanks. I stood up and looked at the bedside table; sitting on it was a small leather pouch and Sister's kunai form, I looked directly towards Nygus,

"What happened to my pouch?"

"Unfortunately the strap seems to have broken sometime during your fight, you will have to go get it fixed,"

I growled,

"It was a gift,"

"I'm sure a repairman will be able to fix it,"

"That's not the point; it was a clan heirloom,"

I heard Black Star scoff at the back of his throat,

"It doesn't matter, your clan's dead,"

I turned and looked at him, shocked by what he said, his voice simply bitter. I expected myself to be angry, but I only felt saddened. But Black Star didn't stop there,

"They're dead and they're not coming back, just let it go,"

I stared at him for a moment, and then ran away with tears streaming down my face. The last thing I heard before I ran down the hall was Kilik screaming at Black Star with all his might. I ran to the only place I could think of as safe, the library. I ran into its furthest depths and crouched behind a barricade of bookshelves and piles of books. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed as quietly as I could. I hated to admit it, but Black Star was right, I was clinging on to a memory that was fading more and more with each day. I could feel it slowly becoming my past, but what I didn't understand was, shouldn't I have been relieved? If this thing that was hurting me so much was beginning to heal, wasn't that a good thing? I rubbed my eyes and thought about it, _'You don't want to forget' _said a sensible little voice at the back of my head,_ 'You don't want to forget any of it, not even the way they died,' _I clung to my hair until it felt like I was about to pull it out, _'Why? Why the hell would I want to remember, I don't understand!'_ the voice was distant and mysterious when it responded _'You know the answer to that.' _I heard footsteps enter the deserted library,

"Natsume, are you in here?"

I knew it was Black Star, but for a second I thought it wasn't because of the soft tone in his voice. Black Star didn't do soft. I heard the footsteps coming closer and closer until he was standing right in front of me,

"Hi,"

He said, I glanced up. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off, tears still pouring down my face,

"You're right, they're dead and they're not coming back. But I don't want to forget, I'm not ready to forget,"

He plopped himself on the ground across from me,

"You're an idiot, Natsume,"

I looked at him, attempting to stop my tears,

"Accepting their deaths doesn't mean forgetting their lives. That will always be with you in here,"

He indicated his finger towards his heart. I looked at him, confused,

"You know when the Keishen Asura was defeated?"

I inhaled sharply,

"Asura's dead?"

Black Star nodded. An image of Medusa flashed behind my eyelids as I blinked, I was going to kill her. Black Star continued,

"There was a man I knew called Mifune, he was a true warrior. He died protecting someone he loved, a young girl called Angela, and now Angela has moved on from Mifune's death, but she still often talks about him. As if he was an angel sent from Heaven above,"

"She hasn't forgotten?"

"I doubt she could,"

I ponced on Black Star, hugging him firmly. For a moment, he did nothing, but then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his lap. Black Star was a great mystery to me, sometimes he was obnoxious and I couldn't stand him, and yet at other times he was like this. It was infuriating and endearing all at once. I inhaled his comforting scent and cried on his shoulder. Black Star spoke,

"If any one saw this it would totally ruin my image,"

I pulled back and laughed, he looked at me with a serious face,

"I'm not joking, I have a reputation to uphold!"

I laughed more and his own face broke out into a smile. He looked at me worriedly for a moment,

"I really am sor- What I mean to say is I apologi- Uh, if you could please forgi- Hmph, this isn't going to work,"

I laughed at his attempt at an apology, he looked at me curiously,

"There is no need to say sorry, Black Star, you were right."

He shook his head,

"But you're not ready yet, you have something else to do before you can move on,"

I felt confused, what did Black Star know about me that I didn't? My confusion obviously showed, he held out something in his hand. It was Sister. Whenever I looked at her I needed to remind myself she was more than just dead metal, remind myself that her soul was still there. I suddenly realised what Black Star meant. For now, Sister only existed in the past, she was not apart of my present, and until she was ready to come with me, there was surely no way I could move forwards. I stared at him. Surely, that isn't what he meant. Black Star's mind didn't venture beyond the realms of how awesome he thought himself to be and food. I smiled,

"Thanks for… everything, Baka Star,"

He smiled. I looked at him seriously,

"You can let go of me now,"

"Nah, I don't think I want to,"

"Black Star! Let go!"

"You should be honoured that I, the amazing-"

"And painfully stupid-"

"And great, Black Star wants your company,"

Queue annoying laugh,

"Black Star, if you don't let go of me I'll kick your ass to next Tuesday and back,"

"As if you could,"

"I can and I will,"

"Hey, Natsume, I was wondering,"

"What?"

"What is it like to be friends with someone as awesome as me?"

"I wouldn't know, Baka, now let me go,"

"What do you mean you wouldn't know?"

"I mean that I don't think you're awesome so I wouldn't know,"

"Okay, what's it like being friends with me?"

"Mostly excruciatingly annoying, but you have your moments where I actually like being around you,"

"Is now one of those moments?"

"No, now is definitely not one of those moments,"

"Which are more often, the annoying moments or the nice ones?"

"Why are you bothering to even ask? The annoying outweigh the nice by, like, thirty squillion,"

"Sureeee…"

"I'm being honest,"

"Whatever, Natsume, I know that it's hard admitting your admiration for the amazing me,"

"Admiration? What drugs are you on, boy?"

"You will never know!"

Unfortunately for me, Black Star decided it would be a fun idea to walk me home. Fun however isn't the word I'd use. Torture, maybe.

**A/N: ahh, yes, a lovely heart felt scene between my ickle love birds *sighs* now if only they'll get to the baby making part of things! Jokes, folks.**


	19. Tease

**A/N: HELLO everyone! I would quickly like to warn you that chapter updates might slow for a while, I'm writing the last two chapters right now, so I may take a while on giving out the next three or five chapters.**

I convinced Black Star that, yes, I would actually go to the ball and that I'd see him there. Then as I got ready, not only did I feel stupid, but also fat and ugly. I wasn't usually the type of girl that worries over their appearance, but as tonight I was going to be surrounded by girls such as Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, and, yes, even Maka, my self confidence was taking a bit of a knock. I didn't bother putting much make up on, only eyeliner, mascara and some light, no sparkle lip balm. I decided that I would go, stay there for about half an hour and then leave, I wasn't going to be missed anyway. I decided to take Sister with me, just in case of an emergency. I walked out of my apartment and towards the school, I felt suddenly jealous of all the people arriving with their weapons or their partners, I was surely the only one who would be arriving alone. I looked up at the tallest pillar above the entrance because I was almost certain he would be up there preaching his greatness. However, he wasn't on the large structure, instead I saw him in a wrangled, mistreated suit yelling at Kidd about how he, the 'great' Black Star, was the real God of Death and Kidd was just is 'temporary stand in' and that his father would tell him the truth one day. I sighed and waved at the group in front of me as I approached them,

"Hey, guys!"

They all turned their heads, Patti hugged me, Liz waved, Maka patted me lightly on the shoulder, Tsubaki smiled and hugged me lightly, Soul fist bumped me, Kidd smiled stiffly and Black Star seemed very interested in his feet, his face a violent shade of scarlet. I felt a heat begin to rise in my cheeks as I realised he was completely avoiding eye contact with me, but talking freely and loudly to everyone else. We walked inside and Maka and Soul headed for the dance floor, Tsubaki sat faithfully beside Black Star as he inhaled half of the buffet without even trying, Kidd, Liz and Patti were making the guests feel welcome and helping to sort out the staff for the party, and I stood awkwardly at the side, waiting for someone to talk to me. I stood there for a while until I noticed Kilik walking towards me, he was dressed up in a casual shirt beneath the blazer and a pair of gray wash jeans, on anyone else it would have looked too casual and a little bit tacky, but it just worked for Kilik. Thunder was dressed in a little black skirt and a plain white t shirt with a bow tie and Fire was dressed in the same thing, only with pants. Kilik smiled at me,

"Hey, how are you? I heard that Black Star apologised after… what he said,"

I nodded a little awkwardly,

"It hurt, but he was right, I need to move forwards, otherwise I'm just going to be stuck in the past,"

He nodded,

"I know what you mean,"

There was a few moments of silence, Kilik put his glass down on a table and turned to me,

"Hey, d'you want to dance?"

I nodded and took Kilik's hand as he guided me towards an empty piece of floor. I swayed with him happily and we chatted about insignificant things, like school and the weather, and I was astonished to realise that this was the happiest I had been in a very long time, just dancing with a friend talking about silly, mundane things. We swirled in an extravagant sweeping motion and I caught a glimpse at Black Star's face as he stared at us, it was a very mingled expression one part awe and two parts, what did it look like? Jealousy? No that couldn't be right; it didn't make sense for him to be jealous. What was there to be jealous of? Nothing, that's what. I continued to dance with Kilik, and then he spoke about something a little less ordinary,

"You know the last time we held one of these dances, the Keishen Asura was revived,"

He chuckled,

"Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Kidd, Liz and Patti were sent off with Professor Stein. It was one hell of a way to make me feel completely useless."

I sympathised with him, I could never imagine being held back while others could go fight,

"Wow, that must've really sucked,"

My words could've sounded insincere, but they didn't. Kilik laughed,

"Trust me, it did, Kim, Jacqueline, Ox and Harvar stayed back too, we always miss out on the action,"

Now I felt empathy, I knew what it was like feeling second best. I hugged Kilik just a titchy bit closer as we danced and we both laughed loudly, though no one could hear us over all the music and talking provided by other students. We danced until I could hear the faint rumbling of Kilik's stomach; I laughed at him and said,

"If Black Star hasn't eaten the whole buffet yet, why don't we grab a bite to eat?"

Kilik nodded hastily in agreement and we walked towards the large spread of various foods, I admit I might've wanted to drool a little. I ended up getting duck l'orange, plain salad, this odd cauliflower dish and a lightly alcoholic cocktail. Kilik decided that it all looked too good and just grabbed one of everything. Watching him and Black Star consume all the available food was kind of disturbing, but entertaining at the same time. Tsubaki walked towards me, obviously wanting someone other then Black Star to talk to,

"I didn't know that you and Kilik were coming here together,"

I smiled,

"Neither did I, it worked out okay though,"

Tsubaki nodded,

"I wish Black Star would stop eating for a second so we could dance,"

I patted her on the shoulder compassionately, poor girl being stuck with Black Star all the time. She smiled weakly at me,

"I guess I should stop him from drinking too much,"

She ran over to Black Star and snatched the glass of beer from his hand. I turned around to see Kidd, he smiled,

"Would you like to dance, Natsume?"

I nodded. He bowed and extended his hand, I laughed at the formality. It took a moment, but we got into the rhythm of the song and swayed gently with the music,

"Hey, Kidd, Kilik told me that you were apart of the team that was meant to stop the Keishen Asura,"

He nodded,

"Yes, that is true,"

"What went wrong, why did he revive?"

"We went against the plan

"Plan, what was the plan?"'

"Stein was to fight a Witch called Medusa, Black Star was to fight Crona, and Maka and I were to stop Witch Eruka and The Man with the Magic Eye from reviving the keishen. Instead, Maka insisted on fighting Crona and The Man with the Magic Eye tricked Black Star and I, so we lost time,"

I nodded,

"How did he die, the Keishen?"

"Maka defeated him, I'm afraid I can't give any more detail about that, I was knocked out, you see,"

"Yeah,"

I looked at our feet, which moved in unison, and sighed, Kidd looked at me worriedly,

"Is there something wrong, Natsume?"

I shook my head,

"It's nothing, don't worry about it,"

Kidd chuckled and whispered in my ear,

"I think Black Star is becoming envious,"

I glanced at Kidd curiously,

"Of what?"

He rolled his eyes,

"Are you thick, Natsume?"

"What, why are you calling me thick?"

"He's jealous because I'm dancing with you,"

I blushed,

"Don't be silly, he wouldn't get jealous over that,"

Kidd looked like he was going to argue, but closed his mouth and smiled at something behind my back,

"Hello, Black Star, do you need anything?"

Before Black Star could answer, I was being snatched away by Kilik, he was chuckling,

"What are you laughing about?"

He leaned in and whispered,

"I'm going to stir up Black Star, just go along with it, okay?"

I grinned and nodded. We moved towards Black Star's general direction and Kilik got down on one knee,

"Natsume, let's get married!"

I was shocked for a moment, and then remembered this was all for the sake of teasing Black Star,

"Of course I want to marry you Kilik!"

I turned away and made myself blush,

"But we're so young!"

"C'mon, Natsu darling, we could go to the Fuji's for our honeymoon,"

He raised his eyebrows suggestively and I had to stop myself from laughing,

"You mean we could-"

"Yes, we could,"

"I've wanted to for so long,"

"I know,"

"So we will finally be able to go kite boarding!"

"Yes,"

"Oh, Kilik, I love you!"

"I love you to, Natsume,"

Our heads began to move together slowly, as if we were about to kiss. I thought someone would stop us, but no one did, and my mouth ended up colliding with Kilik's. We stared at each other in shock for a moment. Neither Kilik nor I made an effort to pull away until, eventually, Kilik and I needed to part for air. We both began to laugh uncontrollably,

"That was wrong!"

Kilik yelled, I nodded in agreement,

"So, so very wrong!"

Everyone else who was watching seemed to laugh as well, it was now obvious that we were joking and a few people seemed relieved, except for Thunder, who looked a little disappointed. Kilik and I walked away from each other, deciding to show all those people who were still unconvinced that we were definitely joking. Tsubaki waved me over frantically,

"Have you seen Black Star? I can't find him anywhere,"

My being filled with worry, but I calmed myself and turned to Tsubaki,

"I think I know where he might be,"

I ran out of the hall and up some staircases, until I found the door that led to the highest pillar above the entrance,

"Black Star,"

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw his figure perched on the end of the pillar, he spun around,

"Oh, Natsume, shouldn't you be with Kilik?"

His raspy voice was so quiet, it was unusual for him. I had to stop myself from laughing at his question,

"Kilik and I were joking, Baka Star,"

He sprang towards me his face close to mine and his eyes curious,

"Really,"

I nodded. I realised that there was apart of my being that accepted the way Black Star and I felt about each other, and another that rejected the feelings whole heartedly. I didn't know which side to choose. Black Star jumped on me and hugged me, resting his head on my shoulder, he sighed

"Please don't be such a tease,"

**A/N: I'm not too sure about this chapter, but here it is and it is here, thanks for reading!**


	20. Medusa

**A/N: Hello, everyone. I know it's been a while, but do not fret, I'm pushing chapters out of me like a chicken does to eggs. Maybe not the most graceful analogy. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!**

I stood stock still, lightly pushing Black Star off me. His eyes filled with rejection as I pried his arms from my waist,

"Sorry,"

I whispered quietly,

"I should be leaving now,"

I explained, even quieter. I turned around and found the door back into DWMA. It didn't make sense. He didn't make sense. Why was my heart beating so quickly? Why did my face feel hot? Why did I feel so _damn_ stupid? I left without going back to the hall filled with dancers, I left without looking at the giant pillar that I'm sure Black Star was still sitting on, and I left without wanting to leave. How dramatic. I found my way back to the apartment, my heart still hammering loudly in my ears. Stupid Black Star, he always made me feel like this. I put my hands to my stomach, is this what people called 'butterflies'? What monstrous things, I felt nauseated and giddy. It was like the last time, the time when he had kissed me, except this time I had walked out on him, and I didn't like the feeling one bit. Sighing, I moved my hands to my face,

"Shit, what've I done this time?"

I didn't expect anyone to respond,

"Natsume, dear, it's been too long,"

I recognised the voice immediately, the coldness, and the ring at the end of her sentence that sent a shiver down my spine. The likeness of a hissing snake. Medusa. I spun around, she was standing in the corner of my room, a smile spread wide on her face. Keeping calm, I sneered,

"Why is it that you can never call before you come over, if I'd known I would've made some food up for you,"

My voice dripped with sarcasm. She merely laughed innocently,

"If I were to call you'd probably ignore me, oh, I feel like a doting teenager with her first crush,"

I looked at her,

"You know, the five year old body doesn't really suit you all that well,"

"I know, but this body stops me from being killed by that school of yours, not that it really matters, I'd just come back anyway. In a different body, of course,"

I nodded, the conversation seemed too casual, but it was better than fighting. I remembered what Black Star had told me about Asura,

"So, I heard what happened to Asura, quiet unfortunate for you, I suppose,"

She shook her head,

"Not really, my plan was a great success; the madness has already begun to spread, but you know that don't you, Natsume? And Asura was so… flawed,"

I nodded,

"How's Crona? Last time I saw it, it was passed out on the floor, I do hope it's faring well,"

"Oh poor Crona, you sent it into a stage of complete shock, it doesn't know what to do with itself,"

"It didn't know what to do with itself even before I came along,"

Medusa chuckled,

"That may be true, but you didn't help the cause. I should be angry, seeing as Crona is my child, but nothing seems to have gotten any better or worse, so I'll let this one slide,"

"Thank you, it was all purely in self defence,"

"Of course,"

I could feel tension beginning to well up inside of my small room,

"Let me pose my question one more time,"

Medusa said, all casualty leaving her voice,

"You come with me and fight on our side, you get back your sister, you free yourself from all this silly emotion you feel, and I'll even do you the courtesy of letting you… eliminate the Mizunes, do we have a deal?"

I had to admit, it sounded awfully good. I slowly outstretched my hand and nodded my head, I was going to accept this deal, Medusa grinned,

"Good, get together your things. We will leave tonight,"

I grabbed only what I needed, filling only one bag, I took one last look at the Polaroids on my wall, I paused. I smiled at one of the photos, Black Star and I were standing next to each other, big goofy smiles spread across our faces, paint covering our clothes and hair, his arm was slung over my shoulder. And it looked so_ comfortable_ and so _right. _I felt the slightest tinge of reluctance; I took the Polaroid off the wall and slid it in my vests inner pocket, right close to my heart. I walked into the front room, Medusa was holding a matchbox,

"I hope you don't mind, I need to get rid of all evidence that I was here,"

I shrugged my shoulders,

"It's not mine, I don't care,"

Just as she lit the match there was knock on my door, I looked towards the door and then back to Medusa, but she was gone. I walked towards the door and opened it carefully, Kidd stood on the other side,

"Hello, Kidd, is there something you needed?"

He glanced behind me,

"I'm worried about you Natsume,"

I looked at him curiously and let him in,

"Why so?"

He rubbed the space between his eyebrows,

"Your soul, it suddenly has so much in it,"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean,"

"There is purity and innocence, madness and death, hate, so much hate, and…"

He cleared his throat,

"…Love. Darkness and light, there is so much, too much, for one soul,"

I continued to stare at him blankly

"Natsume, I trust you, I really do. But I need to know for sure. You're not associating with the Keishen, are you?"

I nodded,

"Of course I do, everyone at the DWMA does,"

He sighed,

"I mean as a partner, do you help them?"

I had to dig down deep to lie, I had never been good at it,

"No, I in no way associate with them,"

He smiled, looking relieved and exhausted,

"Good. But, Natsume, we will all be keeping an eye on you,"

I'm sure he thought that sounded comforting, but instead I felt threatened. I watched him turn around the corner and spun back round,

"Medusa, he's gone,"

I hissed through my teeth, Medusa appeared in front of me,

"This could be troublesome,"

She said thoughtfully,

"With that reaper boy watching you, things could get a little difficult. I'll give you four days, in that time you must gain their faith, assure them your innocence, then we'll leave, understand?"

I nodded. Medusa left in her snake form, slipping down my drains. I wish I hadn't done that, that I never held out my hand, that I never nodded in agreement. But I did, and there was no turning back now. I didn't sleep that night, or for the next four nights. In the following four days this is exactly what happened: Day one. I hung out with Kidd, Liz and Patti; they were all extremely nice to me. Stein tried to do another dissection, which was foiled by Lord Death calling me to the death room, he sent me to a mission, and I killed a keishen that only targeted people with love in their souls. Lord Death had said,

"You have enough love in your soul to lure it, and enough hate to repel it,"

Day two I spoke with Maka and Soul, Maka helped me revise some questions for a make up test I was taking (due to the fact I missed it because I was in the 'hospital') and Soul showed me some nice jazz musician, on that day I killed a keishen and a Witch, they both had lust for blood with innocence in it. Day three I spent the day with Kilik, Fire, Thunder, Kim, Jacqueline, Ox and Harvar, they kept me entertained all day, they're so different I was surprised they hung out together. Instead of fighting keishen that night I, with Lord Death, tried to get Sister back. We got closer than ever before, she actually spoke to me. Day four I was accompanied by Tsubaki and Black Star, it was a half good day half bad day, the half good part was that Tsubaki was there, the half bad Black Star. When I was around him, those incriminating 'butterflies' still appeared in my stomach. I also received another letter from Yukan, it looked like this,

_Dear Natsume,_

_You have not been forgotten here at Meiyo & co. This is not a business letter; I just miss you so exceedingly that as soon as I received your letter I had to reply. The people over there in America do sound rather odd, but be careful. Violence is everywhere, especially at your school. Our old school teacher, Marco Sensei, has been infected with madness. He tried to kill some poor student in their second year at school. Kohaku is, as a matter of fact, the tenth receptionist I have had; please don't undermine my man whoring skills. Father is… dying. I can think of no other way to put it, the chemo therapy is taking its toll in him; I doubt he's going to get any better. It's so morbid, he has even started planning his own funeral._

_As for me, my lovely Natsume? I hate to bring down any mood you are in (I do hope it's a good one). But I feel like a man who's being rejected from heavens gates, there seems to be nothing left for me here in Japan. Not even you. It's just a passing mood, so do not worry for me. I am only half of the man I used to be, I spend all night awake next to my father's bed watching the heart monitor, waiting for the final, long, steady beep. It seems that my life is becoming more and more like a soap opera and less like an actual persons life. It is my twenty first birthday in a week. I'm expecting a letter, just so you know._

_All of my love, because it has no where else to go,_

_Yukan._

I could hear him saying some of the first paragraph in his happy, chuckling voice, and then when he spoke of his father I could practically see his writing turn sombre and serious. In the last paragraph I distinctly heard his 'drama queen' voice that he used when ever he tried to cheer me up. One of the very, very few reasons why I had wanted to stay in Japan was to support Yukan and his Father, but he had insisted on me leaving, I now wished that I had stayed there. The last thing that happened on day four was that I, once again, went to the Death Room to get Sister back, she had actually stood up that time. And then I went home that night and waited for Medusa. I left my room and walked back in, a folded, black piece of paper sat threateningly on the end of my bed, I flipped it open,

_Natsume,_

_You have exactly one more month,_

_M._

**A/N: Oh my plot twist. So what do you think? Please let me know! I should be updating more frequently very soon, it's so hard to wrap it all up when I've been working on it so long. I sure am going to miss Natsume.**


	21. Trouble

**A/N: Hi guys, here's the 20th chapter, thought you might like to know that there will only be 5-8 chapters left in this story, so the end is near! I really can't believe it myself. Please enjoy the chapter.**

I was two and a half weeks into my one month exile, nothing interesting had happened, I had killed exactly twelve keishen, and I continued to talk to everyone I possibly could to gain their trust. But with each day, I grew more and more attached to everything at the DWMA, and I began to realise what a stupid decision I had made by agreeing with Medusa. I noticed about four days ago, Black Star began avoiding me more and more often, I wondered idly if he had the torturous butterflies as well, but probably not, I mean, this is Black Star we're talking about. I walked into school and saw Kilik waving me over I smiled widely and jogged over to him,

"Hey, Kilik, what's up?"

He held up his hand and I slapped it,

"I was just looking at the scoreboard for the make up test, good job,"

I smiled proudly; there was my name at the top of the list, 100 percent. Still smiling widely I turned back to Kilik,

"Couldn't have done it with out Maka's help, most reliable teacher I've ever had,"

"I take offence to that,"

I turned around and saw Stein standing behind me twisting his screw, the light was reflecting off his glasses, so I couldn't tell wether he was joking or not. I chuckled nervously and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. Shrugging, he entered the room for class crescent moon. Kilik laughed at me,

"You have the worst timing, with everything,"

I couldn't help but agree. But I smiled and looked at him,

"Except with fighting,"

I winked,

"Except with fighting,"

He consented. We walked into the class room and sat down next to Kim and Jacquie, Thunder and Fire tried to sit on the desk, Kim convinced them that sitting in chairs was _so_ much 'cooler'. I giggled at how they tried to look aloof as they leaned back into the chairs that were far too large for their small bodies; Thunder looked at me, attempting to raise only one eyebrow, but raising two instead. I just shook my head pulled a 'cool' face and leaned back in my chair in the same fashion they did. Thunder and Fire smiled smugly and turned their heads to the front in unison. I had to stop myself from laughing again. Kilik and Ox were talking about something they'd seen on TV last night, so I turned to Kim and Jacquie,

"Did you see his face?"

"Yeah! He was completely covered in blood!"

"I wonder what he did,"

"I heard that he fought someone symmetrical again and couldn't fight back, Patti had to do it herself while trying to keep Kidd from stopping her,"

I stood up,

"Is he okay?"

I practically yelled, Kim turned to me,

"I think he in the first aid, do you want me to come with you?"

I shook my head and sprinted toward the infirmary. When I walked in I saw a paler than usual Death the Kidd. I closed in the last distance between us and punched him hard in the arm, his eyes pulsed open,

"What was that for?"

The words came out so groggily I could barely make them out,

"That was for being an idiot! What the hell did you do to get yourself in here?"

He seemed slightly more awake now, he positioned himself so he was sitting, not lying down, and opened his mouth to explain,

"I got myself into a situation with a symmetrical keishen."

He paused for a second,

"But you should've seen it Natsume it was perfect in every thinkable way! Even its eyelashes were symmetrical!"

I sighed; his praise toward the keishen earned him a thwack over his head. As he recollected himself I took a seat next to him,

"What about Liz and Patti, are they okay?"

"Liz is slightly… shaken up. And Patti…"

His sentence trailed off, but his eyes looked to the bed next to him, and for the first time I noticed the blonde mop of hair resting on its pillow. I was shocked. This is Patti we're talking about, laughing, happy, crazy, strong Patti. It made no sense, out of all the people in our school who could end up in here, Patti would be so low on the list that she wasn't even a consideration. She looked peaceful as she slept, her usual snot bubble wasn't coming from her nose, she snored in such a lyrical way that it reminded me of her laugh. I turned back to Kidd, I must have looked quiet scary, because he cowered into the corner of his bed,

"How could you let this happen?"

I snarled quietly, he shook his head,

"But-"

"But what? But it was symmetrical? That's no excuse! Your partner is hurt!"

I was quaking with anger, Kidd raised his hands,

"Natsume, I didn't mean to hurt her,"

"You take them for granted! Consider what I's like from my point of view, I only get to see my partner once a week, and that's not even in reality! If you really believed that there is a light and dark side to everything, you would see that symmetry has a dark side too, and this obsession is hurting people I care about, so learn to maintain it better!"

He lowered his head shamefully, I sighed and pat his back,

"And when I say people I care about, I mean you too,"

He smiled and yawned,

"May I rest now?"

I nodded,

"But please, remember what I said,"

I smiled, wished him my best, and went back to class. When I got there I really didn't pay attention, instead I re-read the letter I got from Yukan. My message had been,

_Yukan,_

_I'm afraid my tendency to get myself into troublesome situations did, in fact, not stay in Japan where I wanted it to. Instead it followed me to America, where it is being more wearisome than ever. Happy twenty first! I hope this reaches you on time. I did send it on the express route. I can't believe you're so much older than me! Oji san? Maybe not… I understand how it feels to lose people you love, but he's not gone yet, give him hope and love and maybe a miracle can happen. If you are certain this is his end, don't forget to tell him you love him. I miss you very much and wish I could talk to you now more than ever. I love it here. The heat doesn't seem harsh anymore, it feels welcoming and lively. _

_Search and you will find, I'm sure your life in Japan isn't as empty as it seems, the answer is closer than you think, at the reception desk, maybe. I have so little time to write this, but I'm taking as much as I need, because without you I'm sure that I wouldn't even be here in Nevada. Your letter seemed far too short, and for that reason I am now going to ask you many questions._

_What's the weather like? Are you still visiting my families' tombs for me? Does that freckly kid still work at the grocers? How is Kohaku? Do you still have that 40 year old manga? Are you going to sell it? Are the cherry blossoms blooming yet? Are you enjoying your seasons? There are no seasons here, only summer. Have you fixed your car? How many words does this letter have in it? Are those all the questions I can think of?_

_Love you,_

_Natsume Ai._

Yukans' response had been,

_Natsume,_

_I send you this letter to prove to you that I can answer all of those questions in less than one page._

_The weather is cold, very, very cold. I'm still visiting the tombs, and cleaning them. The freckly kid (whose name I'm sure we know) still works at the grocery, but he got promoted, he actually works at the counter now. Kohaku is good, she keeps on receiving flowers, it makes me jealous. Yes I still have it, and no, I will never sell it. No the cherry blossoms aren't blooming yet. I am enjoying seasons, but not this one in particular. No, I got a new car. Your letter had 303 words (a pretty weak attempt if I say so myself). And yes, those are all the questions you could think of._

_I am also not forgetting to write the other important part of this letter, father seems to be not improving but staying steadily where he is, not getting any worse or better. I've taken your words seriously, and am trying to be more optimistic around him, he seems far happier because of it. I've decided to help out the local baker on Sundays, his name is Sola, I help him with the ovens and general maintenance. And what of troublesome situations? Is this worse than when you set our teachers hair on fire? Worse than when you scared one of the rookies so much they pissed themselves and your room smelled of pee for three months before he had the guts to tell anyone? Worse than when you tried to fix the TV and instead you made it spew sparks for weeks on end? I doubt it's worse than when you were ice skating, fell into the pond and almost got hypothermia, but I may be wrong. I forgot about how you attracted so much trouble. Maybe when people leave you only remember the happy things, doubt it though, cause then I wouldn't remember all the things I just listed. I kind of miss trouble._

_I hope you're feeling as good as I am,_

_Yukan._

The letter showed Yukans sporadic mood perfectly. I felt the dents in the paper where he had used his favourite pen to write (I can tell because it's a violent shade of orange). Professor Stein rolled into the room. He fell over in the door way and stood up,

"You know, I wanted to do a dissection today-"

"Surprise, surprise,"

I heard Harvar mumble, I snickered. Stein continued talking,

"But Lord Death thought of some thing more interesting,"

Kim and Jacquie turned to each other,

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know what about you, Natsume?"

I shrugged lazily. Stein was smiling madly,

"We, class, are going on an 'excursion'!"

I groaned and put my face in my hand. Yukan may miss trouble, but I certainly don't.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter 20, I hate to be a review whore but I would really love it if you left one, just because this is the final stretch and I want feedback now more than ever, so pretty please?**

**I just wanted to share with you guys a tid bit of advice, when I write kiss scenes, which are probably harder to write than fighting scenes, I like to relax the situation a little, so when I imagine how the kiss goes down, I always see both characters with trout faces, it makes writing them a lot less awkward!**


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